Death by Archer
by xUnicornsRulex
Summary: Set a year after the trickster queen, Tortall is celebrating the victory of the Scanra defeat. But it's not long before disaster strikes when an assassin attacks,Gwen-a young archer-stops him just in time but this is only the beginning of Tortalls trouble
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Hold the line!" Commander Raoul of Goldenlake shouted over the screams of dying men and the clashing of metal against metal. Third company, Lady Alanna and hundreds of soldiers had been marching up to Fort Giantkiller the second to assist Lord Wyldon in a big battle that Daine and Georges spies had picked up, heading towards Fort Giantkiller. But just as they were about to approach the crossover that lead them towards the fort they were ambushed by a huge Scanra army, led by the cruel King Maggur himself. Despite the advances of the enormous Scanra army, third company and the soldiers lead by Alanna were doing a good job holding them off. However, Raoul had lost three men and he could tell that the soldiers they were fighting were green. Sergeant Domitan cut down the last of the enemy and ordered his men who had shifted a little out of position back into formation. Everyman held their shields up for the next attack, as they stared up at the King and the thousands of men that stood behind him; swords out and ready. No one moved a muscle when silence descended upon the battle field. The only movement and sound that was being made came from King Maggur laughing and clapping his hands, echoing across the area.

"Well done!" King Maggur cried out with joy, as he stood tall a proud on his stallion. He would if been considered a handsome man, if the cold spark didn't glitter in his dark eyes or the scar that ran along firm face, giving him a monstrous look. All of the Tortall army shot him dirty looks but didn't from their positions. "What a performance. In fact I'm so impressed I might let you live if you join my side." He sneered down on the fierce warriors that stood before him.

"Over our dead bodies you sick bastard!" The Lioness hissed back, unable to control her boiling temper any more. The King glared back at the red headed woman with the infamous temper to match it. All of the subjects that stood surrounding King Maggur flinched at his glare but Lady Alanna stood unmoved, like a mountain trying to be blown down by wind with no success.

"Have it your way then." The warlord smirked back, rising his arm into the air to signal another attack, suddenly his hand froze. Time stood still. No one could move a muscle until King Maggur fell sideways off his horse with an arrow sticking out of his eye. Chaos erupted, as shouts cried out from the Scanra soldiers. More arrows flew from above as the hooded archer continued to shoot the enemy down. The Scanra's were so confused without their King (that had just been assassinated) they forgot about the Tortall army, giving the Tortall's a chance to take their enemy down. It took a couple of minutes for the Scanra's to finally make the decision to run for it while the Tortall's tore their army apart. They Tirtall's let them go, as they already had too many injured men that needed medical attention. Alanna took charge of getting the wounded back together, while Raoul went off to take care of the dead. He arranged to groups of men to collect the dead. The third group, which consisted of Raoul, Sergeant Domitan and two other soldiers went to search for King Maggers body. It didn't take long to find since King Maggurs armour shone beneath the bodies of soldiers that lay on top of him. Mithros! Raoul prayed when he examined the arrow. It was lodged into to his right eye and out just above his left ear. Whoever the archer was they were good; really good. He looked over to the direction where the hooded figure had been standing to find out they had disappeared. Raoul nodded towards Domitan and pointed to where he had just been looking. Dom nodded nd gathered up his horse to search for the missing archer, while Raoul and the other two men carried King Maggurs body away.

The council members sat around the table, listening to Lord Raoul and Baroness Alanna describe the battle that had taken place half an hour ago. Everyone was shocked when they had arrived announcing King Maggurs was dead, no one believed it; until they saw the body themselves. Alanna was explaining the surprise ambush that had appeared out nowhere, the army had kept the enemy off with a few minor causalities. When King Maggurs was about to order another attack someone shot him in the eye. After that the Scanra's were clueless and were easily defeated. Raoul added that the archer was not found but left behind over one hundred bodies.

"Over one hundred!" Sir Myles of Olau cried out with everyone else's faces turning pale in agreement. Sure an archer could kill that amount of people but not in the amount of time that the two knights had just described.

"And still counting." Alanna pointed out, earning more gasps from the men around the table. The only people that hadn't made any movements were Raoul, Alanna and the King, who sat on the top end of the table with his head in his hands like he always did when he was in deep thought.

"Do you think this archer will come forward?" The King asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had covered the room.

"I don't think so, since they would have stayed if they wanted to be known." Raoul replied, earning a nod from his friend. Jonathan suddenly stood and walked over to the open window and stared out of it.

"So, how do we tell Tortall that we don't know who killed King Maggur?"


	2. The Festival

The capital of Tortall was celebrating a full year of peace with the other countries; it had been a year ago that Scanra had surrender. Corus streets was filled with colourful decorations, such as banners, flowers and the brown horse that shone brightly against the blue background of the Tortall flag and other flags that represented heroes (the most common one being the flag of the second lady knight) that had fought bravely in the Scanra war. Hundreds of people marched up the streets to the festival that was being held in the palace gardens. Tortall's finest knights would be showing off their warrior skills in the torments bring held in the arena that the monarchs had built for the big event. Even some of the royal family were rumoured to be competing in some of the contests and a perfect day it was to compete in such contests because the weather was perfected; the sun was shining high in the sky and not a grey cloud in sight. One of the people looking forward to the events was a young lady. She was still quite young around the age of sixteen or seventeen but her body showed the prefect curves of a matured woman. Her cinnamon hair twirled endlessly into delicate curls pinned high to the top of her head, a stubborn chin supported a full pink mouth and her flawless creamy complexion shone brightly with excitement. But what really made her stand out was the colour of her eyes. They were the most unique baby blue that anyone had ever seen, it was impossible to name the shade of colour because it simply didn't exist anywhere else. Many men and women admired her as they walked past but the young girl took no notice of the absorbing eyes and tried to focus of grooming her mare instead. Some men tried to talk to her but instantly backed off when the horse started twitching his ears and stamping his hooves. The other men were more observant enough to see the bow and quiver full of well made arrows, not to mention the strong sword and dagger that hang from her belt to keep the men walking. The girl rolled her eyes at the men's behaviour and finished combing the last knot out of her horses' hair.

"Now you behave yourself when I'm gone." She warned the chestnut coloured horse with a white circle printed to the top of his head. The horse made some kind tossing movements in his head, like he had heard her say it a hundred times before. Shaking her head at his silliness, she grabbed the bow and quiver and strapped them to her back then tied a small pouch on to her belt, which kept all her money in. Quickly, she led the horse to one of the stalls she had rented out for her young mare, promising to bring back a lot of sugar cubes if he had been good. Knowing that everything was in order, the girl began to walk to the tall grey stoned walls of the city that guarded intruders from getting in.

"Miss! Miss, please wait!" A young girl's voice cried out from behind her. She turned around to see the inn keeper's daughter running towards her. It was kind of funny to watch by the way she was holding up her dress, so she wouldn't trip up.

"What is it?" The archer demanded softly from the young girl, as she stopped just in front of her; panting heavily. She allowed the inn keepers daughter to catch her breath before she asked what the girl again.

"You didn't sign your name on the sheet miss." The girl breathed still out of breath, as she held up the piece of paper. She recognised it almost instantly as the sign in sheet she had to use to get rent for the stable.

"Just put down Gwen Fletcher." She instructed before walking off to in the direction before the young girl could speak another word.

"Gross!" Gwen cried our when she landed in a muddy puddle. Lifting her foot up, an expression of complete disgust twisted on her face when she saw the dirty water dripped from her riding boots. This wouldn't have happened if I had left earlier, she thought angrily. When she had tried walking up to the festival earlier, she crept getting squashed between a paraded of people. Fed up of being punched and pushed around like a lump of dough, she climbed on top of one of the buildings and ran across the rooftops, leaping at every gap, so she could reach the next building. It had taken her half a hour (it would of taken more if she had walked in the street) to reach the castle walls. In her excitement, she hadn't looked to see what was beneath her and accidently landed in it. She quickly examined her books and after a close inspection, she thought they were alright, until she found somewhere to clean them off properly. Exiting the alleyway, slid back into the crowd of civilians and walked through the castle gates. The scene before her was spectacular. The royal family had really out done themselves: Colourful stalls and tents surrounded the country yard with clowns, jugglers and fire breathes providing entertainment for the young children that were running past her towards them. Laughing at the children's playfulness, Gwen went to examine everything around her. She was tempted to buy some of the things that shone out among the stalls but knew she didn't have much money, so Gwen suppressed her temptations and only allowed herself to look; she could feel her mouth watering as she past the food stands. Moving along quickly, Gwen excited the sale and games area and came to other stalls that had many lines standing in front of them. Many people that ranged from people in armour to common looking folk stood waiting. What's this? Gwen wondered to herself, she was just about to ask someone until she overheard two men standing just a few steps from her.

"I can't wait to show off my skills man." One of the guys sang happily, jumping up and down happily with excitement like a five year old loaded with sugar. "If we win these competitions maybe we'll be accepted as legends." A small laugh escaped my lips at the young man that was full of dreams - it's going to take a lot more then that my friend, Gwen though to herself. Thankfully, they didn't hear her. Competition eh? Gwen smiled secretly to herself, tempting but I think I'll past, besides I shouldn't show off my skills if I want to stay low. Shaking her head, Gwen turned to leave but stopped when the man that hadn't said anything suddenly spoke.

"Look at the women in the lines; no way do any of them stand a chance of winning." At his words fury burned through him. Women can't win can they! Oh, I'll show him. Ignoring the racial thoughts that were trying to remind her to keep a low profile, she found herself standing in one of the lines for the archery competition.

"Name?" The man sitting behind the desk asked; not bothering to look up at her.

"Gwen Fletcher." She answered, watching the man sign her name down and gave her a green band.

"Torment starts in about fifteen they're explain the colour band when you're there."

He muttered before shouting out 'next'. With only fifteen minutes to spare I stayed around the area, debating if I should join the sword contest as well or the jousting one; for a laugh, since I have never used a lance before but I do use a spear sometimes. I still hadn't decided until a man announced that it was time the archery to begin. Gwen and a large group of people followed the man into a large area that was a hundred yards long and was surrounded by a wooded arena, where hundreds of people sat and watched. Joy, Gwen mumbled, as she stood in line with the other archers. They waited for the referee to explain the rules. It was the usual stuff like don't step over the white line or when the referee shouted 'fast' immediately unstring the bow and place the arrow back in the quiver. He also explained what the different colour bands were for. The bands represented different groups and what order they went into, for example: Reds went first, second blues, then browns and finally green. The winners of the groups would compete against each other in the last draw. This is going to be exciting; Gwen smiled to herself, as she watched the red group first draw. She waited patiently for the other archers to have their go before her group was called up. Like a professional Gwen stood behind the white line, notched her arrow and in one swift movement brought her bow up and released; hitting the fifty yard target right in the centre of the bull's eye.

"Winner!" The referee cried out, pointing to her. Gwen checked the other targets to see he was right; hers was the only one to hit the centre of the target. She stepped back and sat on a bench with the other finalists to let the field monitors move the targets and replace them with new ones. During this time, Gwen took a chance to look at the last contestants. There were two women and one man. One of the women was short, possibly in her mid-forties since there were strands of grey in her bright red hair and small laughter lines around her violet eyes. The other woman was much younger, somewhere in her late twenties with dark curls and smoky grey eyes. The man must have been in his late teens and was very handsome. You would say he was the most beautiful person in the world with his hazel, strong features graced with ivory skin and an archer nose. You could also see the toned muscles under his shirt. Her stomach twisted as she sensed something about him that seemed familiar to her but couldn't put her finger on it. Poor guy -Gwen thought as she tried to distracted herself from the strange feeling and began balancing an arrow on the tip of her finger- must have a hundred fan girls after him all the time. Gwen laughed to herself, she was glad she actually had some common knowledge to be immune to his appearance. The three people seemed to know each other as they sat comfortably together and talked. A yawn escaped Gwen's mouth, as she was starting to get bored with waiting for them to start. Seriously how long does it take to replace a board? After five minutes of whining (inside her head of course) the referee announced the beginning of the final round. The red headed woman went first, taking aim and releasing the arrow so it hit the small red ring in the middle but not the compete centre of the target. Next was the younger woman who also hit the target but was just a centre metre from the middle, last was the man (and Gwen was sure that she heard a lot of sighing at that moment) strung his bow, took aim and hit the centre of the target dead on. A wild cheer rose from the audience, almost deafening Gwen. To be honest the crowd was surprised that the referee let her have her go on the target, it would be impossible to get a better hit. That's what they think, Gwen smiled to herself. She stopped when she reached the white line. Taking her stance she relaxed her muscles, breathing deeply as she took in everything around. In one swift moment that must have happened less than a second she aimed and released. The arrow cut through the air and sliced the arrow in the centre of the target in half; leaving the area in a deafening silence.


	3. The Assasin and the Stormwing

Cries like thunder roared through the stadium, cracking through the silence that had once existed. Once people began to realise what had just happened they went crazy, stamping their feet and chanting songs that Gwen didn't know. Looking at the crowds of people that stared back down at her, Gwen knew she had made a mistake. Why didn't I throw the shot? Gwen yelled to herself, as the cheers seemed to get louder and louder. Stupid competitive streak, she mumbled, cursing herself for not listening to her reasonable side and letting those two jerks get into her head. She wished she could retreat into the shadows were no one could find her but suddenly she had the desire to sneak off, so instead she decided before anyone could do anything; she left. Gwen had just made it out of the stadium in time to hear the referee shout out her name and announced Gwen the winner of the archery competition. Wiping the nervous sweat off her forehead, she quickly grabbed a scarf and tied it around her hair to hide her unusual hair colour. There was nothing she could do with her strange eyes but that wouldn't matter if she made it out of this area quickly. Taking a deep breath she wormed her way through the crowd of civilians, not realising that someone was following her in the shadows.

Even though she should have been getting the hell out of this place she couldn't help but marvel at some of the stalls that she hadn't seen yet. Gwen cursed herself for not having any resistance against sweet tasting things or games. The scent of cooked apples and caramel caught her attention at one of the stands. Behind the stand stood an old, plump, cheery looking fellow, serving what looked like a caramel covered apple to a little girl.

"That's two coppers little lady." The stall manger beamed to the little girl that Gwen could guess just reached her knees.

"But I only got one copper sir." She replied, bowing her head in shame because she couldn't buy the delicious treat the man was dangling in her face. The older man seemed to be torn between letting her off this once or he should be strict on her so she would learn in the future to check prices and her money in the future. Gwen sighed and looked at the few coppers she had in her purse before she walked over to the stall.

"Here, I'll pay." Gwen smiled at the little girl as she reached into her purse and pulled out two copper nobles and placed them into the man's large hands.

"Thank you pretty lady." The little girl squeaked in delight before running off to probably find her parents. Gwen laughed at the girl's speedy escape as she also brought a caramel apple for herself, deciding that the smell was too good to resist. The sound of trumpets playing caught Gwen's attention back to the main area of the festival, unwilling to listen to the reaction explanation in her head telling Gwen to ignore it she followed the sounds to a huge crowd. A line of men playing wind instruments, which were then followed by acrobats, somersaulted down the open area that had been blocked off by a type of fence. Cheers and claps sounded from the crowd as some of them did a few flips and leaps into the air. I can do better than that, Gwen thought, unimpressed by the performance that was displayed in front of the crowd. Then a different set of trumpets went off which made the young girl look further down the line of watchers. The site made her mouth drop to the ground and back up again, smacking Gwen in the face with confusion and wonder. On finely breed horse's came the whole royal family, dressed in their finest gowns and suits and looking stunning (that's what happens when you put the two best looking people in the world together and allow them to breed) but that wasn't why Gwen dropped her stunned mouth. On the right hand side of the kings' heir was the guy she had competed with in the archery competition. A huge smirk grew on her face at the realisation that just hit her on the head. I kicked your royal ass! Gwen couldn't help but cheer to herself secretly, knowing she had just beaten his royal butt. Oh man this was like a dream I had just thought of come true, Gwen laughed at herself, as she watched the royal family get closer and closer. The crowd around her was beaming and cheering at the royal family, throwing flowers at their beloved monarchs. They smiled and waved back to their people, catching the flowers and laughing at the excitement around them as they went along. What a bunch of attention seekers? Gwen groaned, rolling her eyes, which was a big mistake because she found herself being caught in the beautiful hazel eyes of the prince. It seemed that time stood still, until Gwen ripped away from the staring match and began moving through the crowd when black cloth fluttering in the corner of her eye and caught her attention. Her mouth dropped open again but with horror, as she saw a man covered in black robes, trying to control a Stormwing with one hand and holding a cross bow in the other that was aiming right at the Tortall queen. Reacting first and thinking later. Gwen notched the arrow in her bow and aimed when she saw the man fire. Releasing her string her arrow flew true in the air and just barely knocked the incoming arrow away from Queen Thayet's head. It was then that chaos erupted and the archer was finally notice. Guards surrounded the royal family in a matter of seconds and archers had the bows notched and aimed at the Stormwing and its rider. Both Immortal and human flew from the sky and hit the hard ground blow them. It was obvious the man had died on an arrow that went right through his heart but the Stormwing wasn't going to die so easily. It had only fallen because of an arrow that had stunned her wing but not hurt and began flying into the air again but suddenly dipped down again. A young child's scream echoed through all of the terror that was happening and the Stormwing began to take off again but because Gwen was quite close and her mind was only focused on saving the child, she did the one thing that no one should ever do when face to face with a Stormwing. She took the monster on in close combat. Before the Immortal was high enough to make its escape Gwen had unsheathed her sword and dive through the crowds of terrified civilians and just like a javelin through it. The monster scream in pain as Gwen's sword lodged itself between the shoulder blade and the wing, making the monster drop to the floor again. The only weapons she had with her now were her bow and a small hunting knife she kept hidden in her boot. She cursed herself for throwing the sword instead of the dagger but she knew the sword would cause bigger impact. Rolling to the ground Gwen just barely dodged a sharp metal wing that had been aiming to detach her head from her body and thrust the knife into the beasts' belly. Shocked by her quickness the Stormwing let go of the little girl. Tearing the hunter's knife out of the creature's body, Gwen grabbed the little girl and threw her far away from her and the beast. Another metal wing slashed at the young warrior but this time she wasn't quick enough to block. Staggering back, Gwen clutched the chest as sliver blood began to pour down her shirt.

"You're not human!" The creature hissed, seeing the colour of her blood, since sliver blood represented one thing in the human world; Immortal.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you." Gwen smirked, as the Stormwing let out another cursed shrieked and aimed her dagger wings at her heart but Gwen was able to avoid the attack by rolling under it, coming face to face with the demon in front of her, Gwen almost vomited at the stench of death that surrounded the Stormwing. Without a moment of hesitation she slashed the dagger at the monsters throat, deep enough to damage the jugular. The Stormwing staggered around for a moment, cutting it's on flesh as it tried to use its own wings as hands to cover up the gallons of blood, falling down her neck. Gwen clutched her own wound, as she pushed her way through the crowd of soldiers that had moved in to finish the job that she started but in her rush to escape she stumbled over her own footing and fell hard onto the muddy ground. Biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming Gwen began pushing herself off the floor but before she knew it two people had grabbed her by the arms and lifted Gwen to her feet.

"Are you ... What the..." The guy who Gwen had realised as the prince she competed against and another boy who must have been his brother -because they shared the same facial structure and hazel eye- froze. She didn't understand what they were shocked about, until a stab of pain in her chest reminded her that she had blood pouring down her chest; sliver blood.

"Sorry boys but if you want to see a freak show, you'll have to pay." Gwen joked, shaking her arm free from the older brother's hand and running away as fast as she could from the commotion.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she sank into the warm water that filled her bath tub. Somehow she had managed to escape the castle and make it back to her room without being seen, maybe it was years of experience but right now Gwen didn't care. It was times like these that she felt at peace, not having to worry about her problems but just relax and...Knock, knock! Oh you got to be kidding me! Gwen swore, grabbing a towel and wrapped it around her dripping body and the bandages that were wrapped around her chest. She didn't care if anyone at the door saw her like this, Gwen was too angry to care, couldn't she just take a nice relaxing bath for five minutes for once.

"There better be a warlord or something heading this way because if it's not then I'll have to take my anger out on you." She shouted at the young girl that stood in front of the door, shaking like a mouse trapped in a corner by a cat. Gwen didn't usually act like this but all she wanted was to be left alone.

"Mama sent me to tell all the guests that the kitchen is opened." The girl whispered quietly, as she tried to look anywhere but at Gwen. A huge lump of guilt fell heavily on to her chest, Gwen felt so guilty about scaring the poor girl.

"Sorry kid I didn't mean to scare you it's just been ... a rough day. Thanks for letting me know." Gwen tried to smile at the young girl. Her apology seemed to work because the young girl actually looked at her face and not her shoes.

"It's alright Miss, I get it all the time, at least you apologised." The little girl with golden curls smiled back at her. I like this kid, Gwen smiled to herself. Reaching around the corner of the door and picked up two coppers from her purse and handed them to the young girl.

"For your troubles kid." Gwen grinned and waved the girl goodbye before shutting the door behind her. Chucking the towel over the chair she made her way back to the bath and popped herself back into the warm water. She had planned to stay for at least a week but now that two members of the royal family had seen her, Gwen was pretty sure that they would hunt her down and dissect her for science experiments. It wasn't until the water had turned cold that Gwen decided to go down stairs and grab something to eat before she would leave in the middle of the night with her horse. Grabbing a book she was in the middle of reading, Gwen skipped down the stairs and bounced into the dining area of the inn but instantly slowed down when some of the men began to stare at her a little too closely for her liking. Seating herself into the darkest part of the room, she signal to the little girl she had met at the front of her door early (who seemed to also being playing waitress as well) bounce over to her and went through a whole list of specials her mother would be cooking tonight. Choosing a simple meal that would keep her going until she could find a small village to buy or borrow supplies from, the girl raced back to the kitchen to tell her mother Gwen's order, giving Gwen a chance to read her book. However, five minutes later the girl came back carrying a drink.

"The man over there ordered this for you, Miss." The blond smiled before bouncing off to the kitchen again. Gwen could only watch in confusion and amazement before shaking her head and then turning to the direction the girl had pointed to. She could not see the figure clearly, since he was covered in cloak and shadow but she was able to make out that he was a big figure and that he raised his drink to her. Her mouth turned into a firm line and before you could flick a hand, Gwen snapped her book back open and placed it in front of her face.

"I'm surprised to find someone like you reading books by Emry of Haryse." A witty voice spoke from behind her book. Peaking over the top, she looked up to see the man had move from his table and over to her. The man was quite well built for someone his age with white teeth that flashed against tanned skin and hazel eyes with the same glint of mischief her horse had.

"I am George Cooper and you are?"


	4. Some Questions

**I so sorry for taking so long but I've had lots going on but there's nothing I could do about that... hopefully I'll be faster in the future. Enjoy :)**

Flicking her book back open again she rudely ignored the man who just introduced himself as George Cooper. She didn't care if he felt offended by her actions towards him but she had no desire to make any acquaintances let alone friends. However, he attempt to get rid of this man seemed to be in vain, since he just sat himself down in the opposite chair to hers. Obviously this man did not realise when he was not wanted. Waiting patiently, Gwen expected the strange man to start asking her questions about her likes and dislikes but instead he just sat down and watched her. It continued like this for over an hour. During these silent moments the young girl brought Gwen's meal and then came back to get it when she had finished and then also served drinks to them; also she had at least read two chapters of her book; maybe a little bit more.

"What do you want?" She finally snapped. Besides how could you really blame her, anyone would crack under the silent torture she just had to go through for the last hour. It was weird because Gwen was used to being alone but something about this guy sitting opposite her and not making any noises (in fact sometimes she swore she couldn't hear him breath sometimes and was worried that he had fallen unconscious or something) was ... kind of creepy. The smirk that appeared on his face nearly made Gwen reach over the table and smack it off. Seriously, his teeth were so white that it was almost blinding.

"So, you do speak?" His grinned grew even bigger, showing off more white teeth, forcing Gwen to sit on her hands so she wouldn't throw out her hands and strangle him to death –she didn't like people taking the mick out of her- discomfort seemed to radiator like radio reactive plant. George seemed to sense this and his mischievous glint in his eye shown a little bit brighter. "Well..." He paused, leaning back in his chair a little bit. "You can start by telling me what you name is, since you already know mine." Gwen was glad she had been taught self control at a very young age because he would honestly be dead now with that annoying attitude of his.

"The name's Gwen Fletcher." Gwen answered, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms under her chest to look more ...unopposed.

"Gwen, nice name but I would like to know your real one." He questioned, swirling the drink around in his hand like he had just asked the most natural question in the world. Meanwhile, Gwen had to grab on to the table to stop herself from falling off her chair. How the hell does he know? Gwen screamed inside her head. "I would also like to know..." He continued, not noticing that Gwen nearly fell off her chair. "Why you look human but have sliver blood." It took her a few moments for Gwen to regain her composer before grabbing the guy's shirt and yanked him cross the table. Even though Gwen was small; she had a few muscles hidden under her shirt.

"Listen buddy." She threatened, holding her hunting dagger (which she had swiped from her boot when she lunged forward) close to his throat. The threat that she was about to carry out was cut off when the guys annoying grin only grew wider, making Gwen tighten her grip on his collar.

"Good, very good but you should never let your emotions get in the way." Before Gwen could take into account what he was talking about she felt something sharp press her abdomen. Slowly looking down Gwen saw that it was a dagger near her belly button. Sneaky snake! Gwen cursed, he was right; she had let her emotions get in her way. If she had been the slightest bit calmer, she might have thought to make sure he was disarmed before she carried out her threat. Plus, since the guy knew this he must be some expert in the fighting area. Biting her tongue, she gradually let go of the man and stood up.

"We're done here." Gwen stated firmly, before walking back to her room and began packing her things; fast.

If it had been a different night, Gwen would sit on the soft grass and admire the stars that shown beautifully in the dark sky that night. However, right now she was trying to move silently out of the inns courtyard without making a sound with a difficult horse who was complaining that he wanted more sleep and was still upset that he didn't get a sugar cube, even though he had been good all day. But her plan to slip quietly out of the country was quickly and run to Scanra was denied when a group of dark clocked figures surrounded her, she tried her hardest to escape but fighting against six tall figures was not the easiest thing in the world. One against six rapidly became two against six when her horse took into account what was going on and started kicking at the figures wildly but two of the figures managed to somehow sub-tain him. Gwen tried to reach her horse and save him but it was hard to fight off four figures that seemed to excellent sword or knife fighters and soon had to rely on hand to hand combat when her sword was knocked out of her hands. She put up a pretty good fight but after intense battle the cloaked figures managed to wrestle her to the ground and hold her still while a fourth figure snapped his fingers, sending her instantly into a deep sleep.

If it was possible to name every single curse in the universe and then say it in three different languages then Gwen was pretty sure she would be able to prove that she could do it and win some kind of prize. Sitting in the corner of her cell she began plotting her seventh escape. Yes, she had nearly escaped six times already in eighteen hours but that mage stopped her every time. She needed to find a way around him but they had found her weak point; they had her horse. They had battle through many hard times together; there was no way she was going to leave her horse behind. Every time she had tried to rescue Misfit she seemed to trip off some magical alarm, in fact the last two she had set off instead of running off she just sat down and waited for the guards to come and get her (it wasn't like she could run anywhere if she didn't have her horse, otherwise she would just have to come back and get her anyway) and every time she was thrown into a different – and more guarded- prison. I could use a bar of chocolate right now, Gwen thought, throwing another rock at the door. Chocolate was Gwen's only relief from stress and right now she could use some. Next time I escape I'll have to grab some chocolate from the kitchen, Gwen laughed to herself as she picked up another piece of mineral and attempted to throw it at the door but instead the door opened and hit George Cooper on the forehead.

"I swear that was aimed at the door." Gwen explained, holding up her hands in surrender, while trying to hold back a laugh that was threatening to burst out of her mouth any second because the rock had left a little red mark on his head. George only raised one of his thick eyebrows in amusement before walking into the cell with two finely dress men and a woman trailing in after him. One of them she recognised as the mage who kept throwing stun spells at her when she was trying to fight off three guards (which she kind of thought was cheating) the other two she recognised as Tortall monarchy's. Her eyebrows disappeared up her hair line from shock to see the two -most good looking- royal leaders in her prison, she thought it was usually people like George who integrated criminals; not the king and queen. "Your highnesses." Gwen mockingly bowed to the couple. "I would bow but that would mean showing you some respect." She shrugged, as she learnt back against the wall with her legs crossed and her hands behind her head. Gwen didn't care if she just made her death sentence more painful, she had saved the Queens life and this is what she got. There was no way Gwen was going to be like those people that begged these people to spare their lives even though they stood no chance, she was going to go out with a bang and she had a whole stack of insults to throw at them now they were right in front of her- plus, she had to remember not to save any more struck up lords or ladies in the future. This is going to be a whole lot of fun, Gwen smiled secretly to herself. The expressions on the monarchy's stayed expressionless from Gwen comment but she still saw something like amusement glitter in the King's eyes and curiosity in the Queen's. Strange, I was accepting something more 'how dare you insult me like that' not these reactions, Gwen wondered but didn't project her thoughts to them. Instead, she just closed her eyes and pretended to look like she was a sleep."So, when's my execution date?" She asked calmly but Gwen was also thinking strategically, if she knew when her death date was then she would know if she needed to escape quickly or have enough time to make a solid plan. But when she heard the king's reply...

"What made you think we were going to send you to the gallows?" The king's handsome voice questioned, making Gwen eyelids flash open in shock.

"Pardon me?" Gwen stuttered, for once in her life she was unable to find words to describe this situation. These are probably the first people Gwen had met that knew about her 'little' secret and haven't tried to kill her because of it; at least that's what they were saying, but she still didn't know if they were telling the truth or not.

"You see," The king went on, breaking Gwen from her own thoughts so she could pay a hundred percent concentration to what the king was saying and to make sure there weren't any obvious signs that he was lying. "We didn't mean for you to be stolen in the middle of the night." He paused and quickly shot an evil glare towards George who innocently shrugged back.

"You said if she displayed any type of violence then I should be careful when I bring her back." After he had said that Gwen could only stare at him with a dumb look on her face.

"I did not." Gwen clearly stated, giving them man –who was apparently the reason that she was in a cell at the moment- death glares; if looks could kill. The man returned her glare with his steady gaze.

"Really, then what do you call holding a knife near my throat?" He questioned, with a little twinkle in his eye. Oh yeah, Gwen thought as she remember back to the inn.

"Yeah but that was hardly violent," She argued defensively. "I would say it was more threatening then violent." Besides, he had scared the hell out of her, knowing she was lying about her name and know about her sliver blood, since she was pretty sure only those two boys... She mentally slapped herself as she thought back to the event at the festival. How the hell did I forget that? Gwen mentally slapped herself (again) those two must of told someone who then told these people, how could I be so stupid?

"Anyway..." The king interrupted them, smelling a fight about to erupt between the two. "Since we've never met someone like you before, we wanted to know what you are and where you come from." This is going to be hard to explain, Gwen thought when she thought through the question that the king had just asked her.

"Uuuuummmmmm... see there's a little problem with that question." She grinned nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't know what I am."


	5. Interrogations

If this guy doesn't shut the hell up I'm going to feed him to a Stormwing, Gwen cursed, trying to remind herself to breathe without any success; it wasn't going well. She knew this guy was only trying to help but it was like his mind could jump from one topic to another and not realise it. The guy was meant to be a black robe mage for goodness sake. Gwen continued to watch the mage walk back up and down the room and maintain his ability to switch ideas once a new thought came into his head. Rubbing the temples on her head, Gwen swore at herself for being insane for agreeing to the king's proposal. The agreement was simple; if she cooperated in answering a few questions and allowed Numair to study her then she could get free meals and a bed for the night and was allowed to go at any time. She agreed to stay for a few weeks (because she was secretly interested to see if they could figure out what she was) but so far only half a day had past; the possibility of leaving was sounding more interesting by the second. Slowly, she grew bored of what the tall mage was saying and her mind began to drift towards her horse and what had happen when she finally saw him after her agreement with the king.

_The king was muttering stuff about his thanks for participating in their arrangement but Gwen's mind was busy absorbing the surroundings to take notice of what he was saying. The grounds were well kept and were filled with training courts and flowers to make anyone gasp in wonder. Bang! The sound of a door banging open and a horse's wild wail snapped Gwen out of her thoughts. _

"_Misfit!" She cried out in horror, as she recognised her horse's cries. Ignoring the protests of the people around her, Gwen took off full sprint towards the stables where the cries where coming from. She forced her way through the doors to find three men trying to control her house and a woman with smoky curls standing a few metres away but had sweat pouring down her face as she seemed to be concentrating on something intense. Clicking her tongue Misfit instantly understood the command and suddenly went limp, everyone looked at the horse confused but then Gwen click her tongue again –using a different tone- the horse suddenly bolted to his feet, throwing the man trying to restrain him in different directions and ran over to her. He instantaneously calmed down when he felt Gwen's soft and quiet touch on his nose, as she whispered comforting words into his ear. Seconds later the king, queen (which Gwen was pretty surprised to see because that meant she had to run fast while holding up a dress) mage and spy master run into the stables. _

"_What the hell happened?" The Queen commanded, making everyone turn to face the queen; even Gwen was surprised to hear the amount of authority in her voice, since she had been keeping quiet around Gwen until now. No one answered at first, until a very tall man with black hair and eyes step forward._

"_We were trying to inject some pain killers into the horse to help ease it's ankle but as you can see it didn't work out so well." The knight answered, rubbing the back of his head. Everyone else nodded in agreement except the woman who was swiping gallons of sweat off her fore head. Seeing her distress the mage ran to her side and caught her before she fell to the floor. _

"_How was my horse hurt in the first place?" Gwen demanded, hoping her voice sounded unopposed like the queen was earlier. It seemed to work because then everyone turned to her. Again the large knight except responsibility for the action, explaining what had happen last night and how he had kicked the horse in the leg to knock him over so they could restrain him. Gwen listen, trying to be calm about the situation but was unable to control herself when she said,"You big..."_

Ok, so maybe what Gwen had said to Raoul of Goldenlake had been a bit harsh but she was very protective of her horse and she did have some temper issues. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Oh great, she slumped miserably as George walked into the room.

"How is everyone?" He questioned in a cheery tone that annoyed Gwen so much that she was willing to walk into hell and back to get away from it. The tall mage managed to shut up for a few seconds when he noticed his friend's arrival and smiled.

"George! I thought you would be busy questioning lost souls." The tall mage joked with the spymaster. I think I'm going to be sick, Gwen thought as she watched the scene unfold before her. After a minute of small chat about their families and everyday lives, George attention quickly shifted to Gwen before he turned to face the mage again. "Let me guess, you want to help with the interrogation." Numair stated, crossing his lanky arms across his chest. George only shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"Well interrogations are my speciality." George announced to his friend. When did this meeting become an interrogation, Gwen thought to herself, thinking she might just go up to the guy and punch him; she seriously had anger management problems. Please say no, Please say no, Gwen repeated over and over again as the mage stood still in deep thought as he pondered the requested.

"Well you know what they say; two heads are better than one." The mage answered, agreeing to his friends requested. If she could, Gwen would have slammed her head onto the table but she kept what little dignity she had and stayed in her bored position. She didn't like the playful glee that sparkled in his eyes, like he was about to play a complicated game of chess with action in it. Forcing away a heavy sigh of disgust, Gwen bit the corner of her mouth, as the older man sat down in the chair next to her. Instantly she learnt away from him as far as possible without it looking like she was trying to will herself and chair to fly into the furthest corner of the room –which she was actually hoping would happen- and focus her attention back on to the tall wizard in front of her. Gwen snuggled back into her chair and tried to ignore the continuous stares and glances that George's hazel eyes kept shooting at her and tried to focus on what Numair was rambling on about this time with no success; again! Someone shoot me with an arrow now before I'm tempted to jump out of the nearest window. It also seemed George was enjoying her discomfort. And they think I'm the monster, Gwen thought coldly, as she shrunk further and further into her chair.

"Maybe we should start by asking her to explain her background to us, so we have a better understand of what she's like." George interrupted, making Numair finally stop pacing up and down. Gwen froze where she sat; this is what she had been dreading to answer –the first part anyway- taking in a deep breath she looked at the two man before answering.

"Well, my memory kind of foggy," She started, trying to get her thoughts straight so she could answer the question. "I never knew my father but my mother was human, I'm defiantly sure, she almost looked like me but with different eyes and hair was less bright..." Gwen flinched at the sudden memory of her mother, it had been a pain she had tried to bury somewhere at the back of the memory and now suddenly bringing it up again left a heavy feeling in her chest. George tried to put a comforting hand on the shoulder but she instantly moved away from it; not use to the close comfort he had been trying to offer. "I'm not sure where I come from originally but I remember growing up in a small village and it was very mountainous. I think I was about three when my village was raided by bandits and killed everyone in the village." Biting the bottom of her lip, Gwen restrained herself from crying her eyes out in front of these people; she hated crying, it made her feel weak and stupid. Taking a deep breath she rubbed the cold sweat away from the back of her neck before she explained the next bit. "Apart from three years and the little flash backs I've just told you, I can't remember anything else." She admitted, embarrassed by her own memory loss.

"Are you telling me you can't remember eleven years of your life?" George and Numair both demanded at the same time, shocked that someone could not remember almost all of their life. Gwen carefully watched Numair as his hand was suddenly covered with black fire and he faced it on her head. Strangely enough, it sent a cold liquid feeling through her head instead of hot fire that she was expecting. "Interesting, very interesting." The old mage muttered to himself, as he continued to search her head.

"Weird huh?" Gwen tried to joke without any success when she saw the seriously looking expressions on the two grown men's faces. This is going to take a while, she thought to herself. Knowing she was going to be blasted with a number of annoying and painful questions.

Man I hate being interrogated, Gwen moaned as she placed herself on the bed the king and queen where loaning her for the time being. They didn't seem to get the point that she didn't know anything between the age of three and fourteen and it was starting to get on her nerves. The mage also tried using spells on her to see if she could a glimpse off anything but with no success. In the end George suggested it could have been trauma from when I was younger. But something inside me tells me it wasn't, I had heard this voice in my head before but I had chosen to ignore it; until now that is. Strange how one moment you chose to ignore something and the next ... except it. Covering a yawn, Gwen decided it was time to get some sleep, since she didn't get much sleep last night. However, as soon as her head hit the pillow a knock came from the door. Oh great! She thought angrily. At first she tried to ignore it but the tapping only increased. Can't people take simple hints around her, Gwen cursed, thrusting herself off the bed and stomped towards the door. She almost ripped the door off its hinges when she pulled it open.

"What?" Gwen demanded, not taking note of who had just opened the door. It was only when she took a few seconds to examine the person in front of her she realised it was one of the princesses'. Which one it was? Gwen didn't know. The girl stood there shocked for a moment, shocked by Gwen's behaviour towards but quickly regained her royal composer.

"My mother would like to know if you would like to join us for dinner." She announced, choosing her words carefully and pronouncing them properly, like she had trouble or something get the words right. Why didn't the queen send a servant or something to pass the message? Gwen wondered as she thought over the princesses' request before answering,

"No thanks, maybe another time." However, her stomach made a loud rumbling noise that would cause the building to collapse if it was an earthquake. Before Gwen could take in what had just happen the young princess sang out an uncontrollable bellow of laughter.

"It is not that funny." Gwen threaten, which was then ruined by another disagreeing rumble making the queens daughter laugh even more. Despite the humiliation she was feeling right now; Gwen couldn't help but smile a little herself.

"I will take that as a yes then." She smiled, pointing at the smile that had appeared on Gwen's face. This quickly disappeared once the princess had pointed out.

"Yeah I suppose." Gwen replied, leaning against the door frame and tucking her hands in the pockets of her brown breeches. I am not here to make friends; I am not here to make friends! Gwen repeated to herself over and over again as she examined the girl in front of her. Being in this castle, Gwen thought it would be easy to reject making friends because they would be all high and snobby, so she could be mean to them all she wanted but seeing the warm friendly smile that appeared on the princesses face she wasn't so sure any more. 


	6. Taking on Chaos

Despite what Princess Vania had thought, Gwen still turned down the invitation. The thought of her sitting at a royal table with many layers of silver or gold cutlery scared poor Gwen half to death. Vania also asked if she would like to join her and the royal family on a hunt tomorrow; Gwen said she would consider it. After the young princess left, the lone immortal suddenly felt alone and isolated in the small apartment. Unable to control her own sanity any longer she raced into the royal gardens, hoping a good walk would help calm her down and clear her head. Deeply breathing in the fresh air, Gwen moved along the evening shadows of the castle grounds, so she was able to explore without being disturbed. The garden looked larger then before (if that was even possible) since the arena for the tournaments had been taken, leaving a free green field that spread endlessly to the other side of the world. Despite her efforts she found herself drawn to the practice courts, surprise to see no one was here but then she remembered it was around dinner so the practice courts would be empty. Until she saw what looked like a ten year old girl practicing on the archery courts; poorly. What in chaos is going on? Gwen wondered, as she watched the young girls, trying to shot an arrow on to the target without any success. From this distance, Gwen could name five points that the mini archer was doing wrong but as Gwen snuck in closer to the girl and got a better look, she saw that she could name over a hundred things the girls was doing wrong.

"What are you doing?" Gwen inquired, unable to keep a lid screwed tightly on to her curiosity anymore. The little girl jumped during mid release, making the arrow fly high into air and land some distance in the mud, far away from any of the targets. She sprang around with an angry expression on her face.

"What did you do that for?" The young girl demanded, shaking her small fist at me. The young girls pale face was red with frustration, the red curls hanging beside her chubby face didn't help the fact that she looked like a tomato; a tiny, cute, angry tomato. Looking back at the target, the immortal couldn't help but nearly laugh at the training archer attempts knowing she would have missed the next shot even if Gwen did remain silent.

"I don't think you would have got that one anyway," Gwen pointed out, making the poor archer turn even redder into a cherry tomato. Guilt fell hard on to Gwen's chest, feeling bad that she had made her look even more like a tomato by turning her redder then the immortal thought was possible; that and she had been a little bit mean.

"Take your stance." The strange eyes woman ordered the little girl. The young girl stared straight back at her about to protest until Gwen's different coloured eyes blazed alight and knotted her forehead into a stern frown, nearly scaring the poor girl to death. Quickly notching her arrow to the bow and drawing up her bow, Gwen swiftly made some adjustments to the girls footing and moving the hands to the correct position. Gwen allowed the girl to release the arrow; which this time hitting the bottom of the target. Wincing like her bare skin had been touch by a burning iron, Gwen made a metal note to not only give advice on the preparation but the release as well.

"Wow! I did it! I did it! The young trainee repeated excitedly about her new achievement, not really caring that her score was still zero (since she only hit the outer boundaries of the target) continuing to dance carelessly around the training grounds in joy.

"Shouldn't you have an instructor or something?" Gwen suddenly questioned, realising that someone else should be here teaching the small child and not her. This sudden comment made the girl freeze in her tracks and look down sadly.

"I don't have one." She muttered under her breath. Gwen didn't know why she was getting so upset; it was only a question. But seeing the girls chocolate brown eyes begin to feel with tears, Gwen knew she had to act fast and in her panic, she made a big mistake.

"You know if you need on I can always come and help you." Gwen muttered under her breath, hoping the girl hadn't heard her insane idea. Nevertheless, against Gwen wishes, the red hair girl had heard what she had said, so now she had a big grin on her face that spread from one ear to the other.

"Really you would." She pleaded hopefully like she was praying that Gwen wasn't going to take back her offer of help; making it harder for the experienced archer to say no.

"Sure." Gwen replied, tapping her head to see if she actually had a brain that worked in side. Before Gwen could fully take in what she had done, the young girl tackled her to the ground, repeating how grateful she was and squeezing Gwen so tightly that she was having problems breathing. Releasing the lack of oxygen that was flowing through, Gwen managed to pull out of the girl's bear hug and regain some of air into her lungs. Man, I have to deal for a whole with that! Gwen thought to herself, as the girl was dancing around in a circle.

"What's your name kid?" Gwen suddenly asked, since she was going to teach a kid with no name. The girl stopped in her tracks for a second to answer.

"The names Robin." The red head smiled back, grinning wide like a Chester cat. What have I gotten myself in to? Gwen cursed to herself, grabbing the bow away from the girl because she was afraid the young ball of energy might poke some one's eyes out.

"We'll meet back her tomorrow about the same time." Gwen unstructured once the girl had calmed down enough to stay still for a few moments and listen. Her new appetence squealed in delight and ran off without her bow. Rolling her eyes irritation and examined the bow she had been left with. Her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her head line when she saw the quality of the bow and stared back in the direction of the young girl. Where did you get this from Robin? Gwen questioned herself silently, knowing to either get this bow you had to be rich or some kind of thief; at the moment, Gwen thoughts were moving to the idea of the girl being a thief.

I love this bed, Gwen dream happily, snuggling into the softness of the mattress. When Gwen left she swore she was bringing it with her; she didn't care if the king wouldn't let her have it she was going to tie it to her back and steal it if she had to. The sound of someone knocking on the door made Gwen bolt up from her bed, she had not realised that she had left the window open, so a large group of birds had landed on her bed. As soon as she had moved, chaos erupted and little birds were everywhere, panicking little squeaks twitted up and down the room, until they all flew out the window. Staring in a daze, Gwen had almost forgotten what had woken her until the knock came from the door again. Is it mid-day already, Gwen questioned herself when she stared out of the window to see the sun was in the highest point in the sky. Sighing to herself, she dragged her tired feet over to the door.

"What?" Gwen demanded, when she yanked the door open. She hadn't been paying much attention at first since she was busy rubbing the sleepy dust out of her eyes but someone slapping the back of some ones head caught her attention.

"Liam! Stop that!" Vania screamed at her older brother. Gwen wasn't sure how to react at first since she was still in a daze from all the birds and was still in sleep mode but seeing the red blush that had appeared on Liam and that he was trying to advert his eyes away from her. Looking down Gwen realised that she was only wearing a long shirt that covered her mid thigh and the buttons were undone so you could see a bit of cleavage hanging out. You think he would have seen a pair of breasts by now, the strange immortal thought, doing the buttons up so he wouldn't keep staring; which he still did. Grabbing the bottom of his chin, Gwen stirred him, so his hazel ones met her unique blue one.

"It's rude to stare." Gwen stated venomously, making the man's face turn a bit pale in fear. It was only then that I recognised him, he was the archer I played against in the tournament; he was also the prince who spotted my silver blood. "What do you want?" Gwen questioned his beautiful, younger sister, who was trying not to laugh at the whole scenario.

"We came to ask if you still wanted to come hunting with us." She smiled. Hiding her in pleasure for a good hug, Gwen just shrugged her shoulders and answered,

"Sure, I guess." Her response made Princess Vania pearly white teeth shone even brighter at her response.

"Cool, we'll see you in about half an hour." She grinned happily, grabbing her brother by the arm firmly and dragged him off in the other direction. Letting out a heavy sigh, Gwen rolled her eyes until they landed on the maids giggling at the end of the corridor. Gwen's usually sunny bright eyes turned in to an icy cold death glare, the servants didn't stay around for long and made a run for it. Noisy little cows, Gwen cursed, slamming the door hard behind her, hoping it would have made the serving woman jump. Well, I guess there has to be some kind of upside to the job, she considered, getting dressed for the hunt.

The sun was shining fiercely in the afternoon when Gwen left the cool shadiness of the castle. She was glad she had put hair up into a high bun, since the chilling breeze swipe away the sweat that was tickling down the back of her head. After enjoying some time to absorb the beauty of the day, she noticed a big crowd down the end of the field, deciding that was where she was meant to go she walked over to the large group of people. She recognised most of them; in fact Gwen was surprised to see the small woman with the fiery red hair and violet eyes.

"Who's that?" Gwen whispered over to Vania, who had got rid of the ridiculous, puffy, over jewel gowns and had chosen to where a shirt with riding trousers and boots. It took a moment for the princess to see who Gwen was trying to point out before smiling evilly.

"Oh that's Alanna the Lioness, I would stay away from her if I were you, she has a nasty temper." As soon as Vania said the name, all the stories that Gwen had heard came flooding into her head. I thought she would be taller, Gwen kept to herself, knowing that the Kings Champion temper was infamous throughout kingdoms; she did not want to be a part of it. However, at that moment, she happened to turn her head in the wrong direction and her curious blue eyes met with the fiery purple ones. So much for not getting on her bad side, Gwen thought to herself, as she tore her eyes away, wondering what she had done to deserve that kind of intense glare.


	7. The Hunt

Gwen stayed as close as she could to the stable walls while everyone stood around talking to each other. The only comfort she received was from her horse whose ankle had healed thanks to help of the Wild Mage. As soon as she stops talking to her husband I'll go and thank her, Gwen thought, as she watched the young woman talk to the tall mage; she didn't want to walk over there and get trapped in a conversation with him. He was a nice guy and all but his conversations were hard to keep track of and today she just wasn't in the mood. She knew she had to catch her before the hunt started; otherwise she would never get a chance, since the demi-goddess gift stopped her from hunting and eating animals. Feeling her horse's nose tap the side of her leg, the immortal broke her concentration from the couple and fiddled in her pocket to pull out a shiny apple. The piece of fruit disappeared in one bite, as Misfit began munching on the juicy sweetest. Sighing to herself, Gwen checked all her equipment again: spear, sword, bow and arrows, canteen, snacks and your other basic stuff you needed for hunting. Turning back, Gwen saw that the old mage was being dragged off by some lord; leaving his wife alone. This is my chance, Gwen thought, as she marched over to the woman and tapped the animal talker lightly on her shoulder.

"Hey, uuummm I just wanted to say thanks for fixing my horses' leg." She stated nervously, Misfit followed closely behind her and place his head on her shoulder for a bit of comfort.

"No problem it's my job around here." The woman smiled back before her attention turned to a little bird that had landed on her shoulder. Vania had told her about Veralidaine Salmalín (or Daine as she was better known as) strange gift to talk, heal and turn in to animals, so when the woman began talking to the bird like it was another person, Gwen was prepared not to pass out in shock. In fact, Vania mentioned that she was shocked that Gwen had beaten her, Lady Alanna and her brother in the archery, since they were meant to be the country's best archers. Besides who was she to judge -she treated her horse better than most humans. Suddenly the little bird finally noticed Gwen and began chipping angrily at her. Gwen soon recognised the bird as one of the flock that had attacked her this morning; she assumed he or she (whatever the birds' gender was) was angry over that.

"Hey I'm sorry but you should really let someone know you've snuck into their room during the night." Gwen retorted back at the bickering winged creature, who in return turned around an wiggled its butt at her. Not wanting to make things worse (since she didn't want to walk around in fear a bird might poo on her head) she drug in to her pockets again and drugged up some dry fruit that she had been planning to hand to her horse later and handed them out to the bird. The feather animal looked at them with suspicion before jumping into her hand and began eating them.

"You're very good with animals." Daine commented, once the bird had finished eating and landed back on to her shoulder.

"Thanks, you know I sometimes think animals make more sense than people." Gwen commented, softly stroking her horses' nose and kissed it gently. The trumpet sounded, catching everyone's attention. The servant that blew the horn announced that the hunt was about to begin. Everyone jumped on to their horses and with the royal couple taking the lead, every person and horse followed suit into the royal forest. Gwen waved good bye to the Wild Mage, before jumping on to her horse and followed the large crowd into the woods. She nearly let out groan when she found out she was riding just beside Lady Alanna. Talk about the universe being against me, Gwen thought trying not to look the scary woman in the eyes. Vania had explained to her that the Lioness was not angry at her (when she had mention the evil glare to the princess) it was just the king and his champion had not been getting along lately and Gwen knew how infamous the female knights temper was. Even though it was a burning hot day, the shade from the trees made it bearable for the ladies and men to ride out and hunt (the ones who decided to dress up all formal for the event) and there was a slight summer breeze. It didn't take long for the hunting group to catch sight of a deer and chased in pursuit. Being an experienced hunter and all, Gwen knew she would never be able to catch the deer all the way to the back but she couldn't weave her way through the group of people. It wasn't until they were deep into the forest that the hairs on the back of Gwens neck stood up. What? Gwen wondered, as she examined the layout of the forest but nothing unusual caught her attention. I must be imagining things; Gwen thought to herself, she thought until something red glowed in the darkness. Before she had time to register what it was and huge axe was swung towards her and Lady Alanna's heads. Instinct took over and using all the weight her body had, she threw herself hard against the King's Champion and knocked her off her horse, just in time as they both just barely dodged the shape edge that would have taken off their heads. Both women rolled on to the dirt and years of warrior training for a knight had Alanna back on her feet in seconds while Gwen took her time to get back on to hers. She wished she had gotten up faster because the next thing she knew the beast was on top of her. Her eyes widen in fear when she got a full look at the creature. Its body was human but it was covered in fur and his head was in the shape of a bull with blood red eyes that looked like they were filled with madness. What the hell is this thing? Gwen cursed, as she tried to wrestle the creature off her. Thick saliva fell from the animals mouth and fell straight into her face. Wondering where Alanna, Gwen risked turning her head to see Alanna busy fighting off some other creature. Thankfully her horse came to her rescue and back kicked the creature off her, allowing Gwen to get back up again and take out her sword. Noticng the creature advance, she ducked when a throwing axe came at me and she raised her sword to deflect the flying object and then swung it higher to stop the axe that was directed at her head. Why are they so determined to chop my head off? Gwen thought angrily twirling to the side and stabbed her sword through his chest, it seemed like these creatures had a lot of strength but no skill, since the beast instantly fell down and seemed not to move again. At the same time Alanna was finishing off her opponent.

"Are you ok?" Gwen asked the red headed woman, who was swiping the blood off her blade.

"Yeah, I'll live, just about anyway." She grinned; checking to see were the riding party had gone. Since they had been at the very back of the party and the guest focused on the hunt, no one would have noticed the two women falling off their horses. Both of the horses were hanging around the strange creatures and were inspecting them closely. Immortals! I thought once I saw the silver blood pouring from the fatal wounds.

"What are they?" Gwen questioned, crouching down near to the beast that had tried to take her head off. She dared not go any closer to it or touch since the stench from the beast almost made Gwen vomit. The creatures that had attacked them were nothing that Gwen had seen before.

"I was hoping that you could answer that question." Alanna responded, standing only a few steps from me. Instantly, Gwen stood up to her full height and faced the woman, automatically on defensive mode.

"What's that meant to mean?" Gwen demanded, not likening the tone the red head knight had taken up with her. It sounded like she was accusing her; like it was her fault that these half cow half beast monsters had attacked them. The small woman did not back down from Gwen's challenge and firmly kept her ground against the unknown immortal.

"Did you know notice that both these creatures were after you, it took all my strength to restrain this one from coming after you." Alanna answered calmly back (which is surprising, knowing how angry the Lioness can get) Gwen only stared back at her in shock, before looking at the animal that had been so desperate to decapitate her earlier. After me? The lone immortal questioned again to herself. No! Alanna must have been mistaken, she thought to herself, thinking through this carefully. "We should get back to the castle." The Lioness voice echoed through Gwen's head, making her realised that the old knight had moved back to her stallion and was now climbing back on to him. "We need to get back and get the Own. God's know how many of those things... LOOK OUT!" Alanna screamed, the sound of a roar made Gwen notice how much trouble she was in as she turned to face a third monster running towards her. The young warrior braced herself, as she waited for the beast to come closer so she could lung in for an attack. Everything seemed to shut down around her. She could hear the dramatic beating of her heart beat, the firm, sweaty grip she had on her swords handle and the tension in her muscles. Feeling the energy of battle creep inside her, Gwen bent her legs ready to attack when something dark flew over her head, slamming into the oncoming monster. At first Gwen thought it was just a large fur ball but then the ball unwrapped itself and stepped to its full height. It was like a giant wolf (no freaking gigantic wolf) but something about it made it seem more beautiful and more intelligent than the normal animal. Monster and animal began to battle to each other, growling and roaring at each other as they clawed and strike each other. Taking the time to acted I jumped on to the back of Misfit and sent a quick glance to the Lioness. The female knight understood Gwen's meaning instantaneously and they both unhooked their spears from the saddles before charging with it towards the half man half beast. The monster was distracted by the large wolf long enough for the two warriors to race towards it and struck their weapons in the creature back.


	8. Unknown Beasts

The monster roared in agony when the sharp blades of the women warriors' spears sunk in deep into its flesh. It staggered around for a few moments, trying to pull the spear from its back without any success, before falling on to the dirt; completely lifeless. The women breathed deeply from all the effort they had to force into the impact of their spears. There horses also tired from riding so hard and trying to be off the half men, half beats. It wasn't until the heard the low, threatening growl that they remember they weren't alone. Slowly lifting her head up, Gwen eyes laid upon the giant wolf that had saved her life just seconds ago. The wolf was even bigger then she first thought (a bit bigger then her horse) with pure black mid-night fur and silver eyes that twinkle like stars in the sunlight. Gwen couldn't put her finger on it but she sensed she had met this animal before. Hearing metal slowly grind against steel, Gwen turned to see Lady Alanna taking her sword out of her sheath and used at as a protective barrier between herself and her horse against the wolf. Sensing the quickly tempered knight wasn't as understanding as Gwen, the beast began to carefully back away. For a second, it took its eyes away from the Lady Knights sword towards Gwen. As their eyes made contact, Gwen couldn't help but feel it was trying to send a secret message towards her. Overall, she wasn't completely sure because as soon as it broke away from her gaze it jumped into bushes and disappeared. It took a few more moments for the older woman to feel safe again and put her sword back in its sheath.

"I've never seen anything like it." Alanna suddenly spoke through the sudden silence that had once been filled with the roar of strange beasts and metal slashing against metal. Gwen only nodded in response, since she didn't trust her numb tongue to speak. It was so strange; she couldn't understand why she felt like she had met the giant beast before. It's possible that I could have met it before I guess, Gwen thought deeply to herself. She could remember most of her life, so it was possible that she might have came cross this creature before. The catering of horse hooves caught her attention, looking up she saw the whole hunting party were coming back there way. "About time!" Alanna shouted out of now where, as the huge crowd of lords and ladies stopped in front of them with the king and queen in front.

"What happened here?" The king cried out to see a horde of monsters that he had never seen before laying all over the fall and two woman drenched in their blood and dirt. In the next second everyone (including the king) wished he had kept his mouth shout, since the Lioness summoned up all the angry inside her petit frame and began having a go at the king himself; which the whole way Gwen had been struggling to keep a strange face.

Gwen kind of felt sorry about the poor mage who sat across the table from his examining books. Not only was he in charge of figuring out what the hell Gwen was but now he had to figure out what those things that had attacked the young immortal and the king's champion. But it was mostly the wolf that was stuck inside her head at the moment. Apart from the wolf being larger than any regular wolf she had ever seen, there was something about the giant dog that made Gwen he was more than nothing. Thinking back to that spilt second that she and the wolf had looked in each other's eyes there was something there that Gwen was surprised to see in the wild animals eyes; humanity.

"A Minator!" Numair shouted out unexpectedly in triumphant making Gwen jump at her seat (literally) before regaining her calm posture and stared at the mage angrily.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Gwen cried out at the old mage and was tempted to slap him around the head but then thought back to Daine and how she could get every animal in the world torturing her every where she went, so kept her fist behind her back. "And a what?" She questioned remembering back to what had made her nearly die of fright in the first place.

"A Minator." The old mage repeated, passing her the book he had just been reading and pointed to the paragraph that held an illustration of the monster in it and a small paragraph about it.

"Is this it?" She enquired after she flipped through the other pages to see that there were no other pages that contained any other information about the creature. The small paragraph about the Minator was hardly useful, since it just explained that the animal was just something people made up in myths to scare little children and that no real evidence of them actually existing. Until today that is, Gwen mused to herself before handing out the piece of information back to the magic man.

"Yes but now I know the name of the beast and the information I have, it shouldn't take long to track down more information about it... at least I hope." The mage prayed, suddenly looking tired. Poor guy, Gwen thought as the man went along the book selves again and selected some more books. The guy must be losing it with all these sudden creatures appearing out of nowhere and he was in charge in finding out what they were – the king had ordered the university to look into it as well but it was mostly Numair who had all the weight on his shoulders. Gwen wasn't even sure what she was doing there since the man was more focused on the newest creatures that had appeared out of nowhere; she guessed they were more important at the moment because they were more dangerous.

"Do you mind if I go and catch a breath of fresh air?" She asked the mage politely, the tall man stood silently and thought to himself (quietly for once) Gwen waited patiently for his answer since it didn't really what he said she was going to go no matter what she said but she was starting to like the guy and his wife and thought she would try and be polite.

"Alright but if anyone asks we made progress today." The old man joked. With a small salute, Gwen left the library. Peeping outside, she saw that it was just a little past noon. Perfect! Gwen thought excitedly as she jumped over the edge and landed gracefully on the soft grass of the castles garden. Enough time for me to put together some stuff before practice, Gwen smiled secretly to herself as she walked towards the forest to find long pieces of wood.

"I thought you would never show up!" Gwen complained angrily, as her new apprentice (Robin) stumbled across the royal training grounds. The young girls face was bright red from running too much and was breathing deeply from running so much; or maybe the dress and skirts she just had to wear weighed so much? Gwen sat patiently on top of the target as she waited for the younger person to collect enough air to breathe properly.

"Sorry I couldn't get out of work." Robin managed to puff out in the middle of her ventilations. Gwen did nothing but just rolled her eyes before jumping off the target and guided the young girl towards the white line and stood behind it.

"Here." Gwen ordered, thrusting the small homemade bow into the girls' small hands and a quiver full of new arrows; perfect for a girl of Robin's size. For the past two hours, the immortal had been busy collecting wood from the forest and using her hunting knife to form a simple bow. It wasn't as good as Gwen's more well made bow but the small collection would be perfect for practice until she had gotten a little better – plus, she had only had two hours, it took her at least five to make her own one. She watched carefully as Robin began examine her new gifts, moving her hands up and down the soft wooden handle and testing the range of the bow string. Robin was just about to examine the equipment with a bow in the slot, when Gwen suddenly reached out and stopped her. "Not yet." Gwen warned, making the girl put the arrow back into its quiver. "The first things an archer need is a good posture. Yours is terrible." Gwen ordered before carefully explaining each stage to her new trainee. She explained carefully how a person should stand and how to life the bow and then how to draw it. For the next few hours they practice lifting the bow. Gwen had to keep instructing what the girl was doing wrong and fixed it, mentally telling herself that the girl was not drawing an arrow until she thought everything Robin did was just right. To be honest, Gwen was surprised that the girl had not complained once since her training had begun. But as the sun began to slowly disappear, Gwen could see the girls arms begin to shake from the continuous lifting and drawing of the bow.

"When will I begin hitting targets?" Robin demanded from Gwen suddenly; knowing that the out bursts was coming from the frustration and stiffness that was building up between the young girls muscles.

"When I think you can hit one probably?" Gwen retorted back, gently but firmly at the same time. The girl went silent again at that continued her training, until Gwen decided there was no possible way her poor apprentice was too tired to raise the bow up again. "Good job." Gwen commented, tapping the girl lightly on the shoulder. The girl just blinked back up at her, her eyes large as puppy dog eyes. "We're meet back here tomorrow same time, now get some sleep." Gwen instructed. At first it looked like the young girl was about to protest until a loud yawn escaped her mouth; making her think twice. Instinctively, Gwen picked the young child up (slinging the equipment over her shoulder) and began walking towards the servant's quarters. The girl's body was tense at first by the sudden reaction of kindness from Gwen but quickly relaxed into her arms. Once Gwen had reached the servants passage she let Robin guide her towards the door that would allow her to enter her room. Entering the room, Gwen placed Robin on the bed and her new gifts to the girl in the corner. Turning back to the girl she was just about to remind her where to meet up when she noticed the kid had fallen straight to sleep. Cute kid, Gwen thought to herself, as Gwen took off the girls' shoes and clothes until she was in her under dress. Sliding the covers over the girls shoulder, she had to stiffen a laugh as she watched sleeping Robin cuddle into the pillow more. Not wanting to wake the girl she silently exited the room and quietly closed the door. Just as she began to walk back to her room, a familiar voice caught her attention.

"Nice of you to teach that kid archery." George admitted as he stepped next to Gwen. Looking up at the tall spymaster, Gwen saw the usual mischief glomming in his eyes.

"You make it sound as if I'm a nice person?" Gwen smirked back at the old man who only smiled back at her.


	9. Lessons

The next few weeks went by without any stranger beast showing up around the royal grounds. King Jonathan was still worried though so had the research mage's at the university keep looking. Meanwhile, Gwen was using her spare time to teach archery to some of the young servant children. She still wasn't sure how it had happened so quickly and especially just a few weeks. First it had been just Robin, then the next day the red head had brought two of her friends to practice, then a few more friends joined and then even more; soon, Gwen was teaching her own private class of mini archers. However, things didn't go so smoothly at first. Not everyone was happy with this new activity. As soon as the lords, dukes or whoever was living in the castles with expensive suits and hundreds of servants following them about, heard about this, they instantly made their way to the practice courts like a thundered storm that could not be stopped. Gwen didn't even know what was happened until she heard the first squeal of a child and turned to see children of all ages being grabbed by the arms and painfully being pulled away. Disorder broke out, as children started to realise what was going on and started making a run for it. Some of the people sent their servants after them but froze as soon as they saw Gwen grab her own bow and began putting arrows in the notch. Thankfully, they had heard the stories and knew not to pursue; even with the threats for the masters. Chaos broke loose and the king and queen, along with their guards and council stepping on to the scene with angry expressions on their faces. This went quickly to a big debate in the courts magistrate, Gwen was so angry when she heard the lords talking about their staff like they were pieces of trash that it took everyone sitting around her to hold her back from strangling them- the man she wanted to beat the crap out of most was Burchard of Stone Mountain. In the end, Gwen was not allowed to enter the court room, unless she needed to be questioned. Even though the group of rogue lords and ladies had banned together to win, Gwen had the whole support of the Alanna, George, Numair, Raoul and not to mention the whole royal family behind her back they won overall but there were some heavy casualties in the aftermath. The court had ruled that the lords did not own the children (that would be seen as slavery) and that they could not control them in their spare time. Gwen was a fool to think that would be the end of it. Under twenty-four hours, the rich snobs were making the children lives miserable; some had even gone as far as to fire the children from their jobs for little things that didn't mean anything. Luckily, as soon as the supporters behind Gwen case heard, they immediately took in the children to work for them. It broke the young beauties heart when she found out Robin had been fired, even though Robin hated the family, she liked working for the young lady she served who treated everyone kindly. The young child was still not sure why she had been fired but she was in tears when Gwen found her, she also felt a bit guilty since it was her fault in one ways more than one. Even though she didn't know it, Gwen was starting to see Robin as a little sister and had taken her in. A quarter of the children that had come to the training classes before had disappeared, Gwen could sense her enemies were up to something but she couldn't prove anything, so couldn't do anything about it. Frustrated, Gwen put all her time and energy into helping the children learn to use a bow and arrow; the children that had not hope in using a bow, she began to teach them had to use daggers. Princess Vania was also there to tame the wild beast within her, talking her out for long rides and even practice sparring with her, since the youngest princess was learning sword play. A lot of people came to visit the practices, mostly people who had supported her came to visit, along with some of the servants and other soldiers that were on break.

"You seem a bit giddy today Raoul." Gwen commented one day at lunch, placing another piece of sliced apple in her mouth. The giant knight grinned even more then he had before.

"He's just excited that his love is finally coming to the place." Alanna teased her old comrade and friend. The knight just ignored his old friend taking the mick out of him and continued with his day dreaming. Alanna and Gwen just gave each other a look before trying to hide obvious giggle fits. Over the battle with the Minator's, the two warrior woman had formed a kind of friendship and constantly practice together. Gwen never fought against someone with such unique blade skills before and every time they practice together, the immortal felt her skills were getting better and better.

"Do you want to come with me when I meet her and third company?" Raoul asked suddenly, making Gwen turn to look at him with a strange expression on her face. She didn't want to be mean and say 'Why would you want me to meet your wife?' but she didn't want to give in to easily as well

'Sure! I would love to meet her.' Now the famous archer felt like she was trapped between a rattle snake and a fluffy pink dress she would be forced to wear. Before she had a chance to quickly think of and polite answer to decline to this offer, Robin jumped in.

"Does that mean Toby's going be there!" Robin cried out, bouncing to her feet in excitement with her pearly white teeth sparkly in the sunlight because of her big smile.

"Yes, I don't know where else he would be since he stick's to Kel like he was glued to her." Raoul laughed at the red head child. Oh man! Gwen thought as she inwardly sank lower and lower into depression, she began to think her limits were becoming less limited and the pink frilly dress hung at the edge of her mind. Robin turned to her with a big beam on her face. I'm not getting out of this one, Gwen wonders to herself as she sighs in defeat.

"I would love to go." Gwen faked smiled, knowing that the Lioness was trying to hold back and= evil snigger because Alanna knew she tried to get avoid any fancy parades with any means necessary – sadly, she was not as good as Raoul had been.

It was past lunch and now, Gwen sat on her horse with Robin sitting in front of her, with Raoul and Alanna each sitting beside her on their own horses – Dark Moon and Drum. Well, at least I didn't have to get all dressed up, Gwen thought as she slumped gets Robin, who kept moving every few seconds because she was so impatience. Even when she threaten to drop the little girl into the mud if she didn't stop moving didn't seem to stop the stubborn red head. Must be a red thing, Gwen thought, as she looked at Alanna to see her bored out of her mind in her saddle. Raoul had more of a worried look on his face then anything, which Gwen couldn't really understand since the arrivals were only five minutes late. Just as Gwen was considering to have a quick nap, dots started appearing and moving in the distance. Misfit starting stamping his horses nervously, Gwen tried to calm her horse by patting him on the head; she could sense why her horse was getting nervous. They were so used to seeing big armies and running in the opposite direction that they couldn't help but feel a little tense. They dots moved in to few and you could see each soldier with fine horses walking in orderly, straight lines with polish armour. At the front of the queue rode three horses with three noticeable figures. The one on the left was the smallest, possibly Tobi who Robin kept going on about, he looked like he was ten but when she got a close look at his Scanran facials features, she thought he must be small for his age since his face was quite defined for someone at the age of ten. On the right was a small woman with dark hair and tan skin with strong facial expression, it was until she came closer that Gwen notice the bump around the woman's mid-drift. The last rider sat in the middle was the most recognisable of all. The leader of the huge company was a tall woman, with short plain brown hair cut above her ear lobes, dreamy hazel eyes, and full lips. It was quite a strange to see a woman as a commander but Gwen wasn't going to complain; she thought it was kind of cool. Wohoo! Woman independence, Gwen joked secretly to herself, as the company finally stopped in front of them. Raoul rode up to the pregnant K'miri and kissed her full on the lips. The soldiers that had been acting well behaviour before were now going wild, cheering and wolf whistling as the former knight commander and his wife kissed more intimately. Gwen found this scene a little strange but decided to stay quiet and allowed the happy couple to continue. The young immortal was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Robin struggling to get down from the horse. Clutching both of the little girls sides, Gwen used all her upper body strength to pick the girl up and place her gently on the floor. Robin didn't stand around for long as she swiftly made her way towards the horses.

"Hey Tobi!"Robin sang as she skipped to Tobi side. Seeing her, the boy on the horse smiled at her and got off his horse so he was now ground level with her.

"Hey Robin, what are you doing here? I thought you would be working." The young boy question, Gwen couldn't help but noticed how slowly the boy talked, not like he had problem with his speech but like he was carefully thinking about what he was saying. Robin happy grin turned into a sour one as she explained what had happen.

"I got fired." The feisty red head moan as she looked onto the ground.

"What?" Tobi cried out, sending his mare into a sudden panic, the servant boy was quick enough to react and calm the beast. At the same moment, Gwen attention was distracted when she heard the moans of the soldiers, asking for more action, telling Gwen that the loved up couple had stopped kissing. Just as Robin got up the courage to look up from the floor and explain the situation, Raoul butted.

"It's a long story Tobi and if you're are looking for someone to blame for the moment then blame her." Lord Raoul pointed out towards Gwen, who at the time had been hiding a little further back with Lady Alanna and innocently slouching on her horses head was suddenly called to attention in front of everyone who just seemed to notice her. Realising the situation, Gwen sat up and held her hands up in surrender.

"I said it once and I say it again, I claim no responsibility for the honey and feathers that somehow got on top of Stone Mountains room door, completely unbalanced, which somehow ended up fallen on to Burchard head." She commented for the fifty time that week. It had been quite funny to be called to the main throne room to find and honey and feather covered lord and the royal couple sitting on the throne chairs trying to hold back their laughter. It probably didn't help that at first sight of the lord, Gwen collapsed on to the ground and laughed her head off (yeah defiantly not the best way to proceed) but honestly, if anyone would of saw it they would laugh to –mostly likely in a more discreet way compared to Gwen. Alanna also chuckled at the memory since she had been at a meeting when the lord had burst in, so had witness the whole event. In the end there was no way anyone could have guess it was Gwen how had perform the prank, until Alanna spotted a smug of honey on her sleeve and one of Georges spies informed the royal couple and Alanna that the feathers from Gwen pillows had disappeared. The immortal of course had an excuse for everything and since no one got hurt, the authorities' deicide to drop it for now; besides. Everyone agreed that the Lord of Stone Moutain needed a good kick up the backside. The whole area had gone quiet, as everyone was trying to figure out what she had just said. Then all of a sudden everyone burst out laughing their heads off when they finally guessed.


	10. Stone Mountains Rant

As soon as Gwen understood that these soldiers and knights were not the uptight snot heads that she thought they would be, she instantaneously started to like them. These guys were a lot of fun. They were always making fun of each other, especially of their co-commanders, Keladry of Mindelan and Raoul. The young immortal rode between the two of them, so Robin and Toby were able to catch up and Raoul was allowed to talk to his wife. Misfit kept throwing a hissy fit now and again because he didn't like the birds that thought they could land on his tail like he was some kind of trunk, the dog –named Jump- that kept wondering between the horses was getting on the poor horses nerves but what he hated most was Peachblossom. Both horses seemed to instantly hate each other and both horse women had to just all their strength on the reins to stop them from biting each other. After a good talking too, the horses seemed to behave but Gwen knew her horses was just waiting to be alone to get his own back; she would have to keep an eye on him. None of the woman seemed like the talking type (which was very unusual for their gender) but they were polite enough to give an answer to the questions the asked it each other. But part from the brief sentences they passed to one another every now and again they mostly let the men do all the talking. A bird with one leg was brave enough to land on top of Gwen stallion; as soon as the horse felt the sparrows presence on his head, Misfit shock his head ferociously, as he tried to get the tiny creature off his head. The bird was thrown off after a struggle and would have disappeared, if Gwen hadn't caught him. She tapped the little winged animal on the butt like a mother would slap a child.

"Don't annoy my horse just to impress your flock." Gwen told the creature off, holding her arm out so the sparrow didn't try to get back on the horse. The bird only tooted some angry bird sounds before landing on strawberry roans coloured stallions back. If the archer didn't know any better she would have thought she saw the bird turn its back and shake his bum at her. Well, how rude? Gwen thought, ignoring the creatures' insults.

"Looks like we have company." Raoul whispered in her ear, almost making her jump because she didn't realise he had been there. Carefully, Gwen followed the line of sight Raoul was looking at until her eyesight fell into view of what he was staring at. By the name of the Black God! The immortal cursed when her eyes had fallen upon the storming figure of Lord Burchard moving rapidly towards them. What did I do this time to upset? The archer thought hard as she tried to wind back her memories to remember if she had done anything wrong; apart from living that is. Getting off her horse she gave her reins to Robin before heading off toward the old man, quickly followed by his lordship, sending his men onwards. Gwen could understand why he felt the need to come long; someone needed to stop her from killing him. In a relaxed way, Gwen placed her arms being the back of her head as she glided towards the old fool. If there was one thing that white blond hair man hated the most it was not being taken seriously.

"Hey Burchy, what brings you out here on this fine day?" Gwen smiled widely, as she and the man were just a few steps from each other.

"It's Lord Burchard to you scum!" The Lord hissed loudly. His icy blue eyes were like daggers trying to piece her skin. Despite his insult, Gwen acted like she had not noticed. "I have just heard news that you're are to be the new teacher for the pages of the castle and I will not allow it, over my dead ..."

"Woah, Burchy slow it down." Gwen interrupted, holding her hands up in front of him to silence him. "I've agreed to nothing of the sought, hell I didn't even know I was being nominated for anything." She defender herself truthfully, since she had no idea she was to suppose to become some ones teacher? As usual, Lord Burchard did not seem to pay attention to common sense and continue to rattle on.

"I won't let you teach my future children to become knights, never! Especially by some..." Again he was interrupted but this time Gwen clapped his hands in front of his face. It was a bizarre technique but it worked nevertheless.

"Listen you piece of dung in a suit." Gwen threaten, standing to her fall height and almost reaching the deadly eye contact of his lordship of Stone Mountain. "I am sick of the amount of sewage muck that comes out from your mouth, so I will say this very slowly for your old ears to hear." Taking a slight step forward taking a deep breath she added loudly. ".. A. FUCKING. TEACHER!" The archer swore at the man loudly, nearly knocking the soft piece of tissue over from the power of her voice. Her angry manner son became calm and relaxed again when she leant back and stretched her arms out like she had just come back from a work out and walked away with the knight close behind her. Everything was silent between the knight and the archer (apart from the few curses that Lord Burchard was yelling at them but no one paid much attention) as they made their way back to the stables were everyone would be meeting.

"Piece of dung in a suit?" Lord Raoul question after a long period of silence that was now broken.

"Did it really sound that bad?" Gwen inquired, rubbing the back of her head as she and the large knight glided over the grass and over to the stables where everyone would be waiting for them.

"No but I did find it highly amusing." The older knight laughed, just as they were bombarded by some of Raoul Company.

"What was that all about Raoul?" One of the tall soldiers with a long strong nose and blue eyes asked with two other soldiers behind him nodding in agreement as they wanted the juicy details. The immortal allowed the commander to explain what had happened as she followed the lads into the stable, allowing anyone nearby to also hear what he had to say."I am loving this girl more very second." The soldier who first asked his leader what was going on laughed, as Raoul went over the insult that Gwen had spat out at the Lord of Stone Mountain just seconds before. She just shrugged off the compliment like it was nothing special but inside she was glowing. Making her way over to Misfit, she thanked Robin for looking after him as she double checked the horse's health. Perfect, she thought, sending the little girl a wink which made the girl perform a nervous giggle.

"What I don't get is where Lord Burchard got an idea like that in the first place?" Lady Buriram (or Buri as everyone else in the room called her) questioned out loud, making Gwen turn back to the ideal at hand. Yes, where had the deranged old man got the idea from? The skill archer thought to herself as she continued to stroke her horse's nose.

"That might be my fault." A strong feminine voice called out from the corner forcing everyone to look at the red headed female knight who was leaning against her horse's stable door, noticing she had everyone's attention she began to explain, "Yesterday, Jonathan and I were discussing who might be a good replacement for the pages archer trainer and I suggested you." After hearing what the Baroness of Pirates Swoop said, everyone's attention seemed to suddenly change back to the young immortal who was just staring at the woman with her mouth hanging open.

"Are you insane?" Gwen suddenly cried out, accidently startling some of the horses but she didn't seem to notice at the moment. "You mean you nominated me for a position without my consideration or even warning me about it!" She stated out, making some of the soldiers step away from her as they could feel the angry energy flowing out from her body.

"Yes." Was the only thing that Alanna said calmly in reply, which terrified almost everyone because it was a rare site to see a calm female knight before- which scared some of the men more than her anger? Gwen just sent daggers flying into the woman's skull before replying...

"All right I'll do it." She smiled with a thumbs up. If this had been a carton everyone except Alanna and Gwen would have collapsed onto the floor; believe it or not one of the men actually did that. In a few decades time people will still be wondering what was running through these two women's heads. Gwen just shrugged it off. Why wouldn't she did it; one, she enjoyed teaching kids and two she got to annoy Lord Burchard a whole lot more (though what she said to him earlier was kind of ruined now but she could handle that later) a huge smirk grew on Alanna's face and Raoul just shook his head; wondering if his best friend would ever grow up.


	11. Shadows

**Hey, just wanted to apologies for this chapter, I uploaded the wrong one like twice by accident but thanks for pointing out the flaws because now I could fix them, well most of them as best as I could. I need to get back into the writing technique since I've haven't updated or written for so long. Anyway Enjoy.**

The next few days at the place were certainly interesting once Gwen took her new post as the archery instructed for the pages. One her first day as a teacher the sky had been cloudy and little light was shone on the training courts. It had seemed the bad start to a bad day. First of all as she had to get up early to prepare herself for the stupid course, then she had to join the pages breakfast to be introduce by Lord ha Minch to her trainees and was received with little enthusiasm and finally when it came to the training session most of the students refused to do it; she was lucky to get some of the new students to practice (three of which were girls) however, the older pages would not be pushed over so slightly. One gave up his whole page course all together, since he refused to be trained by a woman. Lord Raoul had said it was probably a good idea that he left because he was not the proper material for a knight – at least she was helping get rid of the weak ones. On the second day she decided to get her revenge. As her class began she gathered her small group into the centre and began teaching her students how arrows could not only be simply used for killing but for traps as well, her famous electric blue eyes always darted over to the lazy lot who sat beside the castle walls playing games. Her demonstration was a special arrow she had made that had a bag filled with a special chemical she had come up with instead of an arrow head. Notching the arrow to her string she aimed it at the older pages and released, when the arrow landed dead centre of the small groups of rebels, pink gas was released – let's just say the girly colour wouldn't be coming off their clothes and skins for a while. The training master wasn't very happy about this but she assured him that she was a teacher and she would keep her punishments under law standards; there was nothing in the rule book that said you couldn't humiliate them, in fact it encourage it. Slowly, over time the students began to except her or accepted the fact that they needed to know who to perform a decent shot to past on to knight hood.

"Someone explain to me why I decided to teach little spoilt brats again." She muttered out angrily at dinner one time while she was dining with the king and queen, Alanna and George plus Raoul and Buri.

"Because you like teaching?" Jonathan point out to her but Gwen shook her head in disagreement as she attack another sausage with her fork and knife.

"I believe it had something to do with annoying Lord Burchard, not to mention the satisfaction she gets out of assaulting the poor pages." Alanna added, smiling at some of the methods that the new teacher had used against her students. Just like that, Gwen's faith in teaching had been restored.

"Yes it was fun staining their tunics with pink dye." She answered, not being able to hide the mischievous wide grin that was spread long across her face.

"I don't understand why I let her become a teacher." The king commented to his wife after seeing the evil look on Gwen's facial features. The queen laughed at her husband's poor misjudgement and patted him lightly on the arm.

"Don't worry my love, all good kings make bad decisions every now and again." She replied and took a sip of her tea. Both of their eyes sparkled with hidden amusement. Outside the sun was high in the sky and there was a soft autumn to help keep the sweat soaking into the shirts and dresses cloth material. Gwen couldn't help but let her attention be dawn to the window as she looked among the castle grounds. Lord ha Minch was out on the training grounds working the pages and new squires to death with extremely hard excises, then her attention turned towards the horses stables were she could just see some of third company bringing their horses back from lance training; As always Kel was with them, Gwen had not seen her miss a lance training session yet. Finally her gazes fell upon the edge of the woods that covered the eastern side of the castle barrier. She let out a deep breath as her gaze swam along the edges of the lush green scenery. She wished she could be out the exploring the wilderness but had to be stuck inside instead. Not that she could complain really the company was good and the food was even better. Just as lunch was coming to an end, Gwen's mind drifted towards the window again and landed back on the thick forests. However, something in the shadows suddenly shifted, catching Gwen gleaming eyes instantly, as she sat up a little straighter to get a better look. She could not see much except it had the outline of and animal.

"Earth to Gwen!" Alanna called out, slapping her around the head to properly get her attention. Quickly, she bit the end of her tongue so she wouldn't cry out in pain. Instead she had to settle with a moody pout and a sore head.

"Sorry, what's everyone talking about?" Gwen questioned, when she noticed everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to say something.

"We were just asking if you had any plans." Buri repeated and now everyone was watching her.

"Er… I and Alanna were going for a ride in the woods." Gwen answered rapidly and out of the corner of her eye saw Alanna opened her mouth about to say something. To stop her from saying anything the immortal kicked the purple eyed woman hard in the leg. The immortal watched the old woman bite down on her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out loud in pain. As soon as the lioness was able to suppress her painful cry she sent an evil glare over to her attacker, who was innocently looking in another direction.

"I can't believe I'm letting you drag me into this." Alanna cursed as she swept up on to horses saddle. I can't believe I'm dragging myself into this, Gwen wondered to herself as she followed the lady knights actions and placed herself on Misfits back. The woman was thinking of a million ways how the image she saw could have been a flicker of light or a smaller animal running around the edge of the forests but at the end of the day she had to be sure. Both of them strapped a quiver full of arrows to their side and hung a bow around their back, whether they were looking for a shadowy imaginative animal or not, they could not go into the maze of trees unprepared. There were many strange creatures running about and ever since the immortals began making homes in the trees it was better to be armed and dangerous then unarmed and becoming monster food. Not to mention Lighting hanging from its mistresses' belt and Gwen was carry a spear she had borrow from third company's armoury, just in case they named to fight on foot. Taking the lead, the immortal was the first to ride down the forest trail, the same one which she had seen the animal had disappeared down. Only a few minutes into the ride and they came across an odd set of foot prints. Both of the riding companions got down from their seats to get a closer look.

"Defiantly larger than the average wolf print." She commented, grazing her fingers against the outline of the footprint that was three times bigger than her own foot size. Looking at it her mind flashed back to the whole animal fight. Why is it here? Why the palace woods? She wondered to herself. Something just didn't feel right about the whole situation. Again her memory flashed back to the beast, she had looked into its eyes and they were not normal. They had something… human in them.

"Do you really think it's the same wolf?" Alanna questioned her and Gwen nodded her head in response.

"Has to be, unless someone decided to wear giant shoes in this shape of a wolf's footprint." She responded to the question then looked at her friend who was looking at her with a strange expression on her face. "Too early to make jokes?" The experienced archer asked as they made their way back to their horses.

"Nope that was just a really bad one." The old woman sneered as she jumped on to her horse. That was beyond all forces of evil! Gwen thought as she sent daggers to the back of the red head; there was no need to be cruel about her jokes like that. The sun's rays began to grow dimmer as both warriors made their way further into the woods, following the trail the so called beast had left behind.

For something Gwen thought was intelligent the beast seemed not smart at all. The tracks were easy to follow. As an experience tracker, Gwen knew that an animal knew a couple of human tricks like crossing rivers and trying to get through crowded bushes to lose track of its hunters but whoever or whatever this creature was doing the complete opposite. All of her instincts were telling her she was heading into a trap but overall she wanted answers and she had a feeling that this beast was going to lead her to many of the answers that she wanted. Only time and Mother Nature were against her curiosity. "It's getting dark, we should head back." The woman called out from behind her. She was right of course. Even though they had followed a certain route, it was not uncommon for people to wonder from the path and get lost and the last place you wanted to be is in the woods at night. The girl was not happy by these turns of events but she knew the lady knight was right. Turning our horses around Lady Alanna now took the front while Gwen brought up the rear and began heading back in the direction they came. However, as we got closer to the castle walls something just didn't feel right. She took the opportunity to ride her horse up next to her stallion as the path was begin enough to contain both of them without falling off.

"Can you sense it?" Gwen asked as she looked up to see the sky had less orange in it and was slowly becoming a dark shade of blue. The wind rustled around us but could not break through the silent atmosphere.

"Yeah it's too quiet." Her partner answered and her hand was secured around the cross shaped handle of her sword, as sign that the mighty swordswoman was getting a little too uncomfortable. The woman was right about the woodland surrounding them being too quiet; the forest was never quiet. Looking at each other both of them knew what they had to do and with a few hand signals from Alanna, the immortal pulled her own stallion back behind and ready herself. Simultaneously, the women had the bows out and noted with a fresh arrow, in place, strengthening their defences. The crack of a twig made each women halt as they stood still. Forcing all her energy to her to her ears, Gwen listened intently for any other sounds that sounded similar to that one. With such silence and intensity mostly what she could hear was her own breath and her companions. Just as she was beginning to believe that it had just been her imagination something large sprang out from the undergrowth. Without thinking, both women took aim and shot. Both of their arrows hit their targets, Alanna's through the chest and Robins through the middle of the eyes. How can these things be so big and yet so stealthy? Robin questioned as more of them leaped into the scene, charging at them as they held their double axes above their heads. The fur was stained with dried blood, the clothes more armoured then before and their eyes glowed red with madness. Her fingers flew like lightening as they reached in in and out of her quiver to reload her weaponry.

"Alanna!" Gwen cried out when she saw one of the beasts get to close to her. Quickly she whizzed her bow around and unleashed her arrow, it hit the Minator in the thigh, wounding him enough for the knight to finish into off with a crushing blow from her sword that she had unsheathed from holder. On the other hand, the short moment had left her open for attack. Quickly her hand reached for her spear and she aimed it at its chest. Though before she had a chance to properly use the weapon, cold air whizzed past her hair and looking up saw a dark shadow leap over her. No way! She thought as for the second time in her life the same monstrous wolf came to her rescue and tackled the advancing beast. She didn't have much time to take it in as her mind went back to the on slaughter. There were only two left. Alanna actually was taking one of them head on and was doing a good job, though the second one stampeding towards her might cause her some trouble. Kicking her heels into Misfits side, horse and rider charged between her friend and the advancing monster. With her spear held high she thrusted the spear forward, piercing the beast through the chest just as it was about to swing it's axe at her. These beasts had too much strength but not enough skill. The beast collapsed to the fall, Misfit moved away from the beast as it had a small fit before going suddenly still. Reaching down, Gwen ripped the weapon away from its chest and moved towards Alanna, only to see that the woman had also finished her beast off by despatching its head from its body. Lovely, the immortal thought as she watched the red liquid cover the ground.

"What happened to the wolf?" Alanna asked her as she got back on her horse, her sword still out in case anymore were left. The immortal was glad she was not the only one to notice and began searching the area. Though they didn't have to search long as they saw half its body laying out of the hedge. Getting off her horse, Gwen made her way closer to it, keeping her spear steady. Using the bunt end of the sphere, she used it to gently poke the still figure, a little harder than expected since the body flopped over. Suddenly, the flesh started to move. Gwen had to blink a few times to make sure it wasn't just her vision playing up on her.

"By the Gods!" Gwen cursed as she did the sign against evil on her chest.

"What is it?" Alanna asked as she made her way over to Gwen, who meanwhile had totally frozen at the sight. As soon as the lady knight got a good glimpse of what the immortal was looking at she became just as shock as Gwen was. "It's a man!"


	12. The Mysterious Man

**I would just like to apologise again for the last chapter, hope the replace was a little better. Enjoy. **

The people that worked evening shifts around the palace grounds were finishing of their jobs for the day, enjoying the peaceful tranquillity that the flowers and wildlife provided for them as they performed their duties. It had started off like any other day for the workers, soldiers and knights had been walking back and forth to trade in their horses and maids taking a stroll along the soft grass during their breaks. No one would have guested this place of serenity would be broken so quickly when the lady knight and the immortal came crashing out of the forests and charged straight towards the castle. What confused everyone the most (despite the strange scene that had already happened) was that an arm that was hanging out of the cover of a blanket strapped to the back of one of the horses?

"Move, move, move!" Alanna ordered as Gwen and the knight carried the injured man into the medical quarters. The doctors that had been sitting around drinking tea suddenly jumped to life and came over to them to help them carry the man over to one of the bed. Once they placed him down they could clearly see what the injury was. Silver blood poured from the abdomen of the man that lay before; marking him an immortal. Is he just like me, Gwen couldn't help but wonder, shaking her head of the silly thoughts that circled around her head and focused on the situation at hand. Something large and sharp had slashed him across the stomach, from axe or the horns that belonged to the beasts they though, Gwen didn't know but what she did know was that she nearly vomited when the older woman bent down and sniffed the contents that were flowing out of the wound. "I don't smell any stomach fluids; let's get the wound fixed up." The lady knight ordered the same time one of the other doctors shoved Gwen out of the room and slammed the door in her face. How lovely? The immortal stuck her tongue out despite the fact it was only a door that would see her childish behaviour. To pass the time she focused all her frustrated in digging up the floor as she walked back and forth across the stone blocks of the waiting room, though she didn't have to wait outside alone for long since she was quickly joined by George and Jonathan.

"We heard you brought in a guest." George smiled as he slipped into one of the chairs that were placed randomly around the room.

"I see that news travels fast." Gwen only half joked as she tried to sit down as well but couldn't take the strain of not moving so got back up again and proceeded with her other activity. To save what he could the king used his foot to nudge the carpet that was in her bee line away so the fabric wouldn't be badly damaged. During their wait, the mysterious immortal decided to explain what she and the lady knight had really been doing. From the first time she first saw the shadowy outline right up to the point where they had both witness the transformation. Both of the men listen intently right up until she had finished.

"I'll get Numair to look into it immediately." Jonathan offered as he went in search of the mage, as she watched him leave, Gwen wondered why he did not just past the message on to a servant instead but decided that something like this probably was better kept it in a small group for the moment. However, his sudden departure left her in the merciless hands of the spy master.

"Strange how this beast only seems to turn up around you." George inquired with a threatening tone that sounded like an accusation. At the very sound of the discrimination, Gwen stopped and faced him.

"I would like to point out that it's always when Alanna and I am alone, so don't you point an accusing finger at me." She protested, shaking her own one fist at him.

"Yes but she's never had a wolf stalk her before." The man was quick to point out. Damn you! She cursed at his observation skills. It was a good point though she didn't know if the wolf had been around before her, it was his say against hers. Though, thinking back to their first encounter with the massive wolf (that had suddenly turned into a man) if she was being honest, the lady knight had just been as shocked as her. So she had to be a really good actor to get away with that expression. Plus, there was no way that she could deny that she had felt a strange connection to the beast and that it only seemed to intervene whenever she was in trouble, why or how was still a mystery to her. "Did you recognise this man… his human form not his wolf?" He questioned and Gwen shot him a dirty looked for insult her intelligence. But the answer was no, she had seen him transform, tied him to the back of her horse and had seen the wound on his stomach but she didn't really look at his face. "huh?" Was all George said, reading her twisted face of emotions so easily.

"You know, one day you're going to read me all wrong and something embarrassing going to happen then I'll be the one laughing." Gwen snapped back at him but all he did was snigger at her insult. One day, I'll find something that will get to him, she swore to herself though now she worried that she had set herself a task that will probably be never completed.

Hours passed and they still didn't hear anything from the doctors as they continued trying to heal the patient. What the hell is taking so long? Gwen screamed inside her head from frustration of having to wait so long. Alanna had said that was only a deep gash, something that should have taken half an hour, less if she had all of those other doctors to help. Yet the clock had just stroke ten o'clock, five hours since they had arrived. Gwen didn't know why she was so nervous. There was a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and she didn't like it one bit. After pacing around the room non-stop she finally took a seat across from the baron of pirate swoop. Her head was resting on hands as she leaned forward in the chair.

"I have no idea why I'm nervous." She said after a while of him watching her every move she made. He was very casual about it but she could still see his eyes glimpsing at her every now again. It was reasonable to tell him now before he made the wrong idea later.

"Neither do I, I suppose you'll find out sooner or later." Was all he said and she nodded in agreement. What he said was right of course? Damn him! She cursed him once again. In all fairness it wasn't a normal day unless she had cursed him at least ten times in her head and twice spoken. Her murderous thoughts were interrupted when the hospital door creaked open and the red haired woman stepped out her. Gwen had never seen her so exhausted before, not even after training sessions. The woman's skin was a horrible grey colour, her face poured with sweat and her legs were shaking. Instantly, George was by her side and helped dragged his wife over to one of the seats so she could rest while Gwen run off to grab her something to drink. Finally, she was able to snatch an energy drink concocted by one of the hedge witches and brought it back to Alanna.

"What happened? You said it was only a flesh wound." Gwen questioned once the woman had gotten a few moments to get some of her strength back that she had lost during surgery. She had to wait a long time for her friend to answer as the healer downed the rest of the liquid.

"It was but for some reason he kept shifting between his forms and kept ripping his wound apart." She answered as she slumped into the protective arm her husband had wrapped around her shoulder.

"What form is he in now?" George inquired and Gwen couldn't help but roll her eyes. Of course she was suppose questions, she was the bitchy friend who loved to torture everyone with being annoying but the man was supposed to be the love of her friends life and yet he was thinking of his job more then her. Then again, the lady knight probably didn't mind because she would have beaten the bad habit out of him by now or just given up.

"In his human form last time I left him." Alanna commented before leaning back against the chair and closed her eyes. It seemed like the spy master wanted to ask her more questions but before anything could be the said the sound of deep breathing echoed around the room. Well that was quick? Gwen thought as she slipped the glass out of the sleeping woman's hand. So much for an energy drink! She added as well, as she examined the droplets left inside the cup. Dipping a finger inside she scooped up some of what was left and placed it one her turn. When she had the time later she would need to find that witch and give her a proper lesson of differences between an energy drink and a sleeping potion. Then something amazing happened… George actually did something that was nice! The man stood up and pulling his jacket off placed it on around his wife.

"Should I call a doctor?" Gwen asked, placing a hand on his forehead as she pretended to take the man's temperature. The hand was suddenly wiped away by one of his own hands.

"Come on, let's go and check on our guest." He suggested as he made his way to the door of the resting quarters. Sighing deeply, she followed him, sending one last glance at the woman who lay slumped in the chair before following the man into the room. At first she could not see the man's face because it was looking in the opposite direction to where she stood. With a quick glance between her and George she took a deep breath and moved over to the bed. Even close up she still couldn't see him probably because half of his face was tucked into the pillow and the other half was covered with messy hair that was the colour of the night. She turned towards the baron and shrugged her shoulders but he just waved his hand to push her forward. Rolling her eyes and gently bent over so she could brush the hair away. But as her fingers touched his skin, it seemed to awaken the man and his body moved. She jerked her arm back just in time so her nails didn't scratch his skin when he turned over. The sight of him made her heart leap a thousand times. He wasn't the most handsome man in the world but there were many things that we very attractive about him. For starters he had a well-defined face that were framed by his hair perfectly and he had a long slender nose, however, his lips were a little thin and he had a scar across one of his eyes but there was something about him that made him more unique. Never in her life had she wanted something so badly. Slowly, his eye lids flutter open and golden orbs shone brightly at her. She could only stare at him as his eyes tried to gain focus on the person that stood above him.

"Guinevere." The words were soft as the escaped his mouth. Her eyes shoot open even further at what he called her and he raised and hand towards her face. Out of instinct, Gwen slapped the arm away leapt back. Her hand short to the hunting knife she hid in her boot and held it in front of her, creating a defensive wall between the both of them. "Guinevere it's me." He reached out to her holding out his hand as he sat up but rapidly retracted it as he hissed in pain and held it to his bandaged stomach. For a second she almost reached out to help him but quickly pulled herself back. His eyes met with hers once again and she could see there was some kind of plead in them, like he was forcing her to know or do something. In the end she couldn't take the pressure and with all her might ran as fast as she could out of the room.


	13. Some Questions Asked

"I don't want to hear it!" Gwen snapped as soon as she felt George's presence join her on the balcony, the immortal had no idea whether he had taken her request to heart or not since she refused to face him. Instead her attention was drawn to the scenery around her. The palace gardens looked pretty in the sun set with the orange glow fighting against the evening's dark blue mist, the forest had enchanting glow to it and the whole area was still, allowing tranquillity to settle over the area. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to take in the quietness, allowing her body to relax and focus on what was really going on in her head. After a few minutes, she heard the spymaster footsteps drag along the floor and make the way to the edge next to her.

"We have to talk about it sooner or later." He stated calmly, for once no mocking in his tone. It caught her by surprise but she was managed to stay perfectly normal as she turned to face him.

"I can't explain it like I have no idea who he is but it's like I know him somehow… like there's this something nagging me in my head to remember." Her long explanation was soon followed by silence once again as George took the time to digest the information. Out of the corner of her eyes, she calculated his facial features carefully to see if she could read his thoughts. As she suspected there was nothing, just a blank expression looking over the palace grounds. I hate you, she wondered for some reason. She didn't like secrets even though her life was surrounded in one and this man that stood right next to her had about a million of them.

"He wants to talk to you." He finally spoke, breaking the silence for the first time in ages.

"Do you think I should talk to him?" Gwen asked and turned to face him with pleading eyes. She didn't want some sarcastic, questionable man to tease her or tell her the responsibilities of getting information on what or who she is; all she wanted was a friend who would be honest. Electric blue stared into the eyes of hazel ones, as telepathic communication passed between them.

"I think the decision is up to you." He answered finally. Well that doesn't help at all, Gwen sighed as she shook her head disappointingly at him. "If what you feel is true then you really need to be the one who makes the decision." He added with a more serious tone to it. Oh? Well that makes a bit more sense; Gwen silently thought to herself and could feel her cheeks turning a little red from embarrassment. What was worse was that he saw it and he was smiling at him.

"I'll go and talk to him." She moaned as she rushed away from the balcony and back through the castle where the medical rooms were station. She tried to calm herself and smacked herself on the head when she realised she was moving from one bad situation to another that was probably worse. Deciding to take things into action, the immortal just barraged into the room and took the stranger head on. Though that all kind of fell apart when her eyes matched his and her knees started to shake; this had been a bad idea. The man seemed shocked that she seemed to return to his room and looked like he was about to reach out for her again and even though nearly instinct in her body wanted to be closer to him she forced herself to step back. At this action he froze and finally seemed to realise it was best that they stay apart for the moment. "Who are you and why have you been following me?" She demanded to know, her fingers itching for her hunters knife that she had replaced back into her left riding boot. The attractive man took this before gently easing himself back on to the bed, clasping his hands between his legs and he thought. Finally, he looked back at her and Gwen couldn't help but stop breathing when the intensity of his eyes caught back on to hers once again.

"My name's Luke and the reason I've been following is pretty hard to explain…" He brushed off, messing up his shaggy hair even more then she thought possible until this very moment when she saw his hair stick out in twenty different places; had the guy ever hear of a brush. Gwen could feel face growing red with frustration but tried to hide it with slamming her back against the wall and folder her arms under heart chest. "When you used to look at me like that it meant you were annoyed about something." The wolf man answered with a small smile on his face, showing off a small dimple in his left cheek. You're the one that's annoying me! She thought secretly but remained herself that she needed to stay on this guy's good side and get information from him and there was no way she could do that if she was strangling the life out of the poor man.

"So what are you?" Was the next questioned she asked him, since he seemed to refuse half of the previous question.

"I'm a werewolf." He answered simply like it was the most common thing to say every single day; in this case it wasn't. Nevertheless, it made sense. The whole transforming into a wolf that was bigger than anything she had come across and suddenly changed into a man was a dead giveaway but still it was hard to believe. Werewolves were myths, more mysterious then the immortals that walked around today, they were supposed to be made up fairy tales –clearly they weren't.

"So you're an immortal then?" Gwen stated, dragging a stool nearby across the ground so she could sit on it.

"Not actually?" Luke shrugged.

"It's a simple yes or no answer." The archer snapped furiously back at the werewolf. There was no way she was taking this bullshit right now; she was not in the mood for simple half-truths. What she wanted was the full truth and she was happily considering using her hunting knife to 'encourage' proper responses if he continued to play up like this.

"Well immortal and my species are similar by the fact that we share human qualities… more us then them." The man scratched back of his head when he suddenly stopped talking to think, Gwen didn't give him much time as she whistled for him to hurry up. "Most of the immortals started off as humans that were cursed by the Gods for doing something naughty like stormwings and spiderns, while the other half were recruits to fight against the goddess of chaos and her evil minions." He half explained, allowing her to process the information.

"I thought immortals were made from the dreams of humans." Gwen was quick to point out the flaw in his logic.

"Partly true, the gods got the idea of how to design from human dreams." Luke seemed happy to inform her and Gwen could do nothing but just stand there and give him evils but sadly this attempted to scare him a little didn't seem to work as he just smiled like he was remembering a long lost memory.

"What?" She demanded to know, the archer hated the fact that she was withholding stuff from her, especially since it seemed to amuse him; maybe she could convince George to let her use some torturing methods to wipe the smirk off his face. Speaking of the devil's servant the door opened and the spymaster walked in, stopping Luke from saying whatever he was about to answer to her question.

"How are our two birdies doing?" George smiled and he tried to put on his friendly mask which Gwen to instantly see through, so could the werewolf.

"Don't even try being sweet George, I can smell when you're lying, also I can heart beating faster." Luke was quick to point out the man's flaw but as usual the man seemed unaffected by the insult to his job and just shrugged it off; though it shocked the archer to know that their new guest was able to use animal like abilities in his human form.

"Aren't you a clever little mutt." Gwen snorted which caused the man to look at her for the first time that didn't have a sweet or know it all smile to his face.

"Don't call me mutt!" He growled dangerously, alerting the archer that she had defiantly hit a muscle somewhere under that façade he was trying to hold up and she couldn't help but give a small smile that she was the one finally pushing the wrong buttons on the opposing member not the other way around. Even with a six pack any man could easily be knocked over by a small dent to his ego – man's true sin was always pride. The man seemed to sense her teasing behaviour and his face turned into a mean looking snarl. Not so funny when the boots on the other foot is it? The blue eyed beauty smiled, knowing that her knife was on her personal if the werewolf got a bit too touchy and took his anger out on her. It would be fun to see what it was like facing off to a werewolf, to see what the full extent of her fighting abilities was. Sadly, to Gwen's disappointment, George stopped the whole commotion before things could get heated up to a boiling point.

"I said that you could talk but if you're going to continue like that I'll have you tied outside with only a kennel to cover you." The spymaster threaten with such aggressiveness that Gwen would not believe it was him who had said it if she had not been in the room to witness him dish it out. Despite how much she hated to admit it, George had guts. Yes, he was well built for a man his age and probably had plenty of fighting experience but the man-beast was much younger, faster and as far as she knew much stronger than the average man. However, his intimating presence seemed to calm Luke a little, it seemed that his tension figure seemed to lose all energy and slumped back on to the bed.

"Sorry, sorry, it's a werewolf thing, our emotions can come and go like the wind." He stressed as he once again rubbed his large hands through his inky black hair, this time calming the hairy beast that grew from the top of his head into something less wild. For some reason, Gwen felt the sudden need to go to him and comfort him in some way; obviously this was affecting him more then she had sense before. On the other hand she wasn't actually the comforting type and quickly thought of something to say to change the subject at hand.

"How do you know me but I don't know you?" Was the first question (the first sensible one anyway) that she could think of. This seemed to break the atmosphere and turn everything into a business like area again.

"Well, that's your fault." He teased, getting rid of the archers need to comfort him and was soon replaced by the familiar feeling to smack him again.

"How is that?" George quickly interfered before Gwen had a chance to snap. Probably better that way? She wondered to herself as he was experienced interviewer not her.

"Well that's a funny story." Luke smiled and the archer had a sudden feeling that she was not going to like this tale one bit.


	14. Don't Even Say It

The angry scream echoed around the castle walls, like a rabid bear going crazy as it attacked its prey. Everyone could hear it: the soldiers, the cooks, even the prisoners in the lower levels of the castle shivered in fear at the very sound. The doors of the infirmary burst open and Gwen stormed out with fire flaring out of her ears. Everyone that was working in that quarter of the palace made a run for it as the immortal marched down the hallways, her hands clenching and unclenching, as if her dangerous hands were ready to strike out and grabbed the closest object near her and break it into a million tiny pieces; it wasn't too far from the truth of what she was thinking. Gwen could feel her emotions flying all over the place, she needed something to direct her anger on; sadly, she had no class that she could force to do a hundred push up or put snakes in their pants; now that would be a funny site. But she was not able to indulge in her pleasurable thoughts as she stormed towards the library, where Numair had his head stuck inside a book. Only when her fist slammed against the table he was working at did he finally snap his head up to attention.

"Can elves do magic?" She questioned the man, barely able to hold back her temper as her who body shook with inner rage. Instead of answering straight away, the mage shuffled back in his chair, trying to get as much pace as he could between the angry woman and himself for his own safety. Quickly, he cleared his throat as he tried to summon up the courage to tell her the information.

"From what I've read in my research of mystical creatures, elves can do magic, mostly along the lines of the four elements. Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" The mage dared to ask and his answer only seemed to infuriate her more. He must have been crazy to even suggest the question and moved further away from it, so far out of the way that he made sure that he was out of the zone where it was possible for her to throw something dangerous at him and wouldn't be able to place a protective barrier up in time. Seconds later, George and Luke came stumbling through the door. Numair hoped their presence would help calm her down but instead she lost it.

"I thought I told you to get lost wolf boy!" She shouted, standing into a pose that looked like a cobra in a striking position; this was not going to end up well.

"Wolf boy?" The mage inquired but his investigation was cute off when he saw his old friend show him the death sign if he didn't cut it out. Right now it was just Luke and Gwen standing there ground against one another like they were about to get into a fight. The wizard began thinking of a million spells he could possibly use to ease the situation or use in a defensive manner if things got a bit out of hand.

"This is what you always do, as soon as you hear something you don't like you go off in a mood and refuse to confront it!" The werewolf barked back and his eyes darken to something menacing as he crouch down into attacking position of his own.

"Don't judge me you don't know the first thing about me!" Gwen snapped back with such venom that everyone felt like they just had poison pierced into their skin.

"Your favourite colours red, you hate any one that's cruel to animal and you think that people that put dressing on their salad." The six and a half foot man was quick to retort back and even dared to smile that he had hit a sensitive point because everyone could see the vein in her forehead throbbing harder and faster and that her face was slightly going red from the lack of oxygen getting into her system.

"Those are just lucky guesses!" The immortal was quick to retaliate to defend her intelligence to the previous question.

"Oh yeah." The werewolf sneered, his golden eyes shining with mischief. Clearly knowing something that everyone in the library didn't. The two older men shared a quick look with each other, both of their expressions read worry and confusion as they prepared themselves for what could be a blood bath. George pulled out the handle of his daggers slight out of his sleeves, while Numair began mumbling a chant. "Does everyone know that you have a birthmark the shape of a heart on your butt?" He grinned and that was when all chaos broke loose. Gwen sprang. For such a small person with a delicate frame, she was somehow able to knock over the sixty seven kilo grams of pure muscle and keep him pinned between her legs as she tried to strangle him with her bare hands. The old men leapt into action. With the hilt of his knives, George was able hit the nerve points on the archer, so loosen her grip just enough for her to pull her off, while Numair performed a spell to keep the wolf man down so he wouldn't get up and retaliate.

"That is enough!" George ordered with such firmness and authority that it stopped the two young people from struggling in there bonds. They all looked at the man like they were little kids afraid to be told off by their father. "Now both of you sit down and we are going to talk this through… without trying to kill the other person." He said firmly but the last part was one hundred per cent focused on Gwen who gave a big huff, like a five year old who finally understood that she wasn't allowed another slice of cake until after dinner. Slowly, the two old men realised their bonds and kept watchful eyes on the castles violent guests to see if they saw anything suspicious when the carefully released them. It was like two lions circling each other when the archer and the werewolf slowly made their way to seats, taking chairs from either side of a table and sitting down. Facing each other as if they were ambassadors about to fight for what they wanted. The spymaster stood on one side of the table with Numair on the other, watching the whole scene unfold with great interest. "Now! Why don't we start from the beginning, so Numair can understand what is going on." George breathed, as he settled himself into one of the other chairs, though the mage chose to stand, just in case things got a little heated again and he was out of harm's way. Both man and woman stared at each other from opposites ends of the table. Gwen's electric blue eyes sparked dangerously, daring the man to say something.

"As I was saying." Luke began his predator eyes locked with hers. A silent battle commenced between them that the two other men could only guess what was happening. "I and Gwen grew up under the wing of a witch called Morgana when we were young, she taught me how to shift shape into a wolf and Gwen how to use the magic in her eleven blood …"

"Over my dead body did I practice witch craft." Gwen mumbled under her breath but it was loud enough for everyone else to hear and cut Luke off from what he was saying. He gave her a deadly looking glare but it was gone as quick as it came.

"It wasn't until we were older did she explain to us her whole plan." He continued, watching the archer intently, who seemed to find a sudden interest in what the wolf man was saying. It was true, early Gwen had stormed off as soon as he had mentioned what she was and that she did magic, this part she had not heard yet. Though she tried to disguise it, what she was thinking was written clear on her face. "She wanted to use us as weapons against the Tortall during the Scarcan war but Gwen never wanted to go through with it so she took drastic actions." At that moment all eyes turned towards the archer who had a stunned look on her face.

"What kind of actions?" George asked, trying not to look uncomfortable in the situation that he had just been thrown into.

"She wiped out King Maggur and his entire army." Luke spoke with such calmness that it to a while for the information to sink in properly.

"WHAT!" Gwen leapt from her chair and only managed to hold herself back just in time before Numair and George could intervene and cast another spell or hit her in her weak points again. The castle shock like it was suffering an earthquake from the vibrations that came from the shock point of the archer's loud scream. Honestly, if this kept up then everyone that worked and lived in the castle would be leaving for their own safety with her anger causing health problems. The werewolf raised his hands in a defensive position of surrender.

"No need to get defensive, it was the only way to stop Morgana's crazy plan and save that whole company she planned to wipe out." He quickly added to his protective barrier. After a few more moments of a staring competition, Gwen settled back into her seat, though all the man were well aware of the dent marks her long nails had left in the surface of the solid oak table. Seeing this, she couldn't help but notice Luke stroking the skin around his neck, thankful that the other two men had pulled them apart before some serious damage was done. The archer couldn't help but smile at how uncomfortable he was all of a sudden and knowing she was the cause of it, so far it had been the best feeling she had all day. "Anyway, I wanted to help but you were afraid that the witch would use me against you and didn't want the rest of my life being hunted so you cast a memory spell so I won't remember anything… by the way did the spell have to involve me being struck by lightning?" He questioned and Gwen could feel her eyebrows hit the top of her hair line.

"Huh? Lightening?" She questioned, not sure what that powerful element had to do with any of this.

"It sounds possible, like I said before elves magic is based on the elements it has many similarities to wild magic." Numair was quick to add in his opinion to the confusing subject, with some thought, Gwen thought it made a bit more sense.

"If that's true, why do you remember?" George picked up the loose end rapidly just like any spy trained person would do. At this question, Luke's whole presence suddenly turned tense and gave is old companion an odd look before turning his attention back to the old man who had asked the question; almost like he was afraid of the reaction he would receive. Why do I have the sudden feeling that I'm going to kill someone any second? The archer wondered to herself as her eyes darken threaten. After what looked like some deep thinking, the werewolf search through the pockets of his trousers before pulling out a silver chain with a crescent shaped medallion hanging from it. As soon as the piece of jewellery shone in the light, Gwen knew that she had seen that piece before but her brain refused to give her the answer she was looking for. The wolf man tossed the object over to her and she gracefully caught it between her long slender figures so she could examine the object closer.

"You see… werewolf's have this special ability." Luke began, scratching the back of his neck showing he was very uncomfortable with the situation. "It's called _ and it allows us to know who our soul mate is no matter what we'll always be able to find them…"

"Hang on just a second!" Gwen interrupted before the mythical creature could finish. "Are you saying that you and me are…" She couldn't find the word to expression the situation, it was all just too weird and the very thought of the whole concept the stranger was getting to frighten the hell out of her.

"We're soul mates." He answered for her instead with nothing but pure and honest truth behind it that Gwen felt that she might puke.


	15. Research

If there was one thing a person could say about Gwen was that when she set her mind on something she was determined to get it. Her newest task was to find some information that she could use to prove Luke wrong. There was no way she was his soul mate, for one thing she couldn't stand the man, since something about him rubbed off on her the wrong way. But no matter how much she tried to deny it, there was still that uncertainty there that they could really be soul mates. It came from the strange ways they would look at each other than a sudden burning desire would overcome her or when he would gently brushed his skin against Gwen's then she got this strange electric shock. Every day since he arrived, Gwen used all her spare time transferring from her room to the library and reading every book that had to do with soul mates. Most of the time she would be looking through the books for ages only to find one line about the whole subject in the book which was no use or she had already read something that was similar to it. Every hour that passed she felt more and more frustration grow in her body, from the fact that she had search over a hundred books and they were all useless not to mention the fact she had not been outside for a long time to perform any of her excises so she no way to burn off all her extra energy expected through sudden out bursts of frustration.

"Why don't you just admit you like him?" Robin moaned from the corner where she was busy mending some clothes that Gwen had ruined. Looking up at the small girl, Gwen's eyes burned with intense fury.

"Because I don't!" She shouted back, slamming the book she was reading shut since it had provided to be another failure and threw it in the pile of other books, becoming a small collection of disposed books on the floor. Sighing for a second as she took in her failures that lay spread out across the floor, taking another book from the opposite pile and flipped through the new one.

The young maid just made a small annoyed groan before settling back into her work. Ever since the shape changing man had arrived she had noticed something different about the way her mistress acted. She seemed to be much more with drawn before, not even bothering to humiliate the pages any more as she focused more on examining endless amounts of books from the library. They day continued with the same routine of Gwen flipping through page after page of useless information. When it got dark, Robin left to go to bed, leaving the archer alone with only the flickering candle to keep her company.

Looking outside the window, Gwen realised that it must have been near the middle of the night now, as the garden was covered in complete darkness and even though she strained her ears she could not hear a single movement in the castle. Tidying the books off the bed and into the corner, she prepared herself for bed, draping an oversized t-shirt over her head. The princess had offered her some of her own night dresses but she refused. Gwen never understood why woman wore those things; the lace was very itchy, how did anyone stand wearing that stuff to bed let alone sleep in it. She stretched her arms high in the air, trying to get rid of a kink in her shoulders, her dress rearing up her thigh.

"I see you're still stubborn enough to wear proper night attire." A low baritone voice rang through the air making Gwen stop what she was doing instantly. As soon as her voice registered in her brain, she grabbed for the hunting knife on the desk and few it in the intruder's direction. Luke was able to dodge the blade just in time to cause any physical harm but some strands of his hair were left floating to the floor. "If I wanted a haircut I would have asked." He retorted sarcastically, as he looked at his bits of black hair on the floor. However, he was so distracted by the aftermaths of her first attack that he did not see her lunge for him until her fist collided with the man's face.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Gwen demanded; tighten her hand into a punch, ready for the next approached. The werewolf made some kind of painful moan in response as he tried to get back to his feet. Standing there and just looking at her oddly, Gwen suddenly felt exposed as his hungry eyes took in all her fine curves. The archer placed herself in a fighting stance ready for the next attack and tried to show she was in control but she could feel the vein popped in her forehead when she saw his lazy pose; he was not taking this seriously.

"Would you relax, I knew you would never answer the door so I just came through the window." He shrugged like it was normal. What the hell is wrong with this guy? Gwen thought as she stood there like someone had slapped her around the face and the wind had caught hold and frozen it there.

"Are you on medication or something?" She burst out suddenly, partly in shock still.

"I'm not a drug addict!" He complained and his face turned into a slight pout that looked like he was deeply hurt. For some strange reason, Gwen couldn't help but laugh, he looked like a toddler he was just told that he couldn't be a horse when he grew up. Now this time he was the one looking at her like she was mad. Deep down the archer knew this should have been a serious situation but she just couldn't stop. Surprised at herself she slapped her hand over her own mouth. What is wrong with me? She wondered as she shook her head. She tried to ignore the strange feeling that this had something to do with an inside joke that they shared but she didn't remember.

"So what are you here for then?" Gwen demanded, placing her scary facial expression on again. A sly smile spread across his face.

"I'm going to prove to you that we're soul mates." He grinned, his sharp white teeth showing off slightly as his lips spread into further a larger smile. Before she had a chance to debate this with him, Luke grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards her, slamming his lips hard against her mouth. In that instant something amazing happened. It was like those romance movies where when the main girl and guy kiss, there's a whole serious of events that unfold through their mind, such as wedding bells, fireworks and millions of dead flowers come back to life. Only in this case it was a hundred times better. Her muscles relaxed and she deepened the kiss, soon she found her hands digging into his scape and his dark hair tickled the skin. Their kisses grew more feverish and demanding as they began ripping off each other's clothes, things were going to get a little interesting.

Back in the library the following morning, Gwen was still searching the books for information, only this time she was searching for something else. The morning light burnt on the side of her face and stretching out, the archer allowed her skin to absorb the rays in. It was a nice little break from all the hard work she had been doing ever since waking up this morning and for the pass week. Sooner or later she would go and meet third company for lunch; it had been a long time since she had talked to Kel and Raoul for a long time. Speaking of them she better get down there soon, otherwise Buri would have eaten most of the food there. Seriously the woman might be eating for two but that didn't mean she had to eat everything.

"I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time." A familiar voice echoed across the chambers. Looking up from where she had been leaning back in the chair, Gwen saw Lady Alanna leaning against the door frame, wearing casual attire with a sword belt hanging loosely from her hip. Gesturing to the older woman with a warm smile, the knight made her way over to the table and took the closet chair. "So who was it?" The female warrior asked, causing the archers eyes flared up into her hair line.

"What?" Gwen asked a little surprised and confused to what the woman was gesturing. The lady made a deep low chuckle and smiled deviously at her.

"I only know a look like that when a woman's got a good night sleep with the help of a man to comfort her." The woman grinned with her mysterious words. Gwen laughed, finally understanding what the woman was getting to.

"Luke." The archer smirked at her friend and she was almost certain that the red haired woman feel from her seat, if she had not been gripping on to the table.

"I thought you hated him?" Alanna questioned when she was able to regain her balance properly and able to think clearly once again. After taking some time not to snicker in the woman's face, Gwen was happy to explain last night's events. It hadn't just been pillow talk that had gone on last night but Luke had discussed with her some other details he wanted to tell her first (apart from George, there was no way he could get anything passed the whole man) before he informed the rest of the council; more about soul mates and Morgana. Her friend listened patiently and was silent for a few moments after she finished explaining. "So you're looking more into elves magic now?" The lady knight inquired, taking one of the many books that surrounded Gwen and inspected it. The archer bowed her head deeply. Yes, it was the last thing she wanted but if what Luke told her last knight was true, then she needed to find some way to reverse the spell and fast…

_Gwen lay on her front with her head held up right by the support of her hands and elbows as she listened to what the werewolf man was telling her. The man was basically going over everything he had told her already but going into a little more detail to help her understand and bit more. However, now he was revealing Morgana's plans. He started off by telling her how she had interfered with King Maggurs desperate attempt to finish off the king's main army and the assignations attempts._

"_Why would killing the queen be a big advantage to Morgana's plan?" Gwen asked, of course there was the fact that the queen was an important political figure and professional leader but there were many other people just like her. Though she didn't like the fact someone had pin pointed the queen; Gwen like Thayet and now deeply disliked this woman further then she could ever imagine possible._

"_I'm not sure about all the details but there are a whole series of people that are linked to some important event, good versus evil, Morgana hopes to weaken the side of good before the event happens." Luke explained with Gwen hanging on to every single word he spoke and absorbed it all in._

"_She thinks, Alanna, Thayet and Raoul all have something to do with it." Gwen asked and the werewolf nodded. The archers face turned into a deep frown as she rested her head back on the pillow so she could think. If what he said was true then there were a million others like that archer riding the stormwing ready and waiting in the army she had at her back and she had all the answers. Frustration burned through her body as she thought the whole conversation over and over again. The only thing that eased the pressure was the gentle kisses placed along her shoulders._

Gwen looked up from her thinking and stared at the lady knight sitting beside her still checking the books. Two years ago, the archer would have not really cared for these people or this place, it was just her against the world; all she cared about was her survival. But in just a little under a month she had changed her view on life entirely in so many ways that she had lost count and if she dared say had learned to love once again. No matter what that witch had planned up her sleeve Gwen knew she would do everything in her power to stop the evil bitch; not matter what it takes. 


	16. Set into Motion

Gwen liked to believe she had pleaded her case well to the king and queen as she stood before their thrones. Only a few of the officials were there as well and that included most of her friends. This confrontation had been going through her head for days as she planned her journey. Despite the fact she was allowed to come and go as she please, the archer was going to need some help and some experts on this trip into enemy territory. For this to work she needed to the permission of their highness to go through with the people and supplies she needed. As soon as she was done, the whole room was silent as the two co-rulers thought her plan through their heads. Every second that passed, the archer felt the increase of the sound of her heart beat.

"It is very dangerous, especially with the country in dispute over who shall rule, seeing foreigners in their land will probably set them off." King Jonathan was quick to point out, even though he was a man in his fifties, his mind was still sharp and swift like a brand new sword cutting through a man's skin for the first time. The man saw almost every flaw in her plan in an instant and that could usually be enough to settle the case to a complete fail.

"That is right. However, if we are to track down this Morgana then it could provide useful information to stopping this group and maybe even being able to cancel out a full scale war." The kings' counterpart was quick to add to the discussion, like her husband Thayet was quick as a whip and a fearful politician to mess with.

"I know the mission is dangerous, that is why I will only take only a few selected volunteers along." Gwen was quick to point out to them to help back up the point she was making. The king sat on his throne for a while, looking at the small crowd of people around him, then at her and then into the fierce hazel eyes of his wife. Watching the couple share a silent conversation between them, Gwen could see from the way the king smiled at his wife that he had come to a decision.

"We give you our support behind the cause." The king smiled at her and Gwen couldn't help but feel she had just sold her soul to the underworld. With a polite bow to their highnesses she went to her to her rooms to begin packing her necessaries, she already had a team in mind and there was someone she was knew who was dying to get out of the castle and hunt down whoever was behind this; she was well trained, had strange purple eyes and a temper as fiery as her hair colour. An impatient knock echoed from the door and without any word of acknowledgement, Alanna stepped in.

"You better be bringing me otherwise I would seriously have to hurt you." The woman threatened with a small smirk on her face as she dumped her already packed backpack on the bed. Well that was quick, Gwen wondered to herself but had a feeling that the lady knights secret spy husband had something to do with it.

"Do you really think I would go without you?" The elf smiled at her friend and tied up the bag. She had one volunteer; now she just needed a few more.

Outside the stabled was a large group of man and woman, most of them armed from their toes to their teeth. There person she sported in the crowd how she was happy yet also very confused to see.

"Jasson! You actually want to come?" Gwen couldn't help but blurt out and in response the grown man gave her a mocking hurtful look.

"Don't sound so surprised Gwen I am a trained knight you know." He spoke in his defence. Even though she was glad to see him volunteer, the elf wasn't sure if she wanted to see one of her best friends on a mission like this. Plus, he was a prince of Tortall, there would be so many problems if he was taken prisoner by one of the other countries. A heavy gloved hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see Alanna giving her a warm smile.

"I know what you're thinking love and we have the same doubts to..." She began and a few other people made mumbles of agreement to what the lady knight had to say. "But he convinced us that he could be useful, after he's able to speak all several languages, so he'll be useful in any political issues we might run across and not to mention he's a good tracker." At that moment she smiled proudly at her godson. Gwen could sense the woman was having a big headed moment as she knew that Alanna was the one who taught the boy most of what he knew. In the end she gave a defeated shrug and looked who else was about to join her. Kel was all set up and ready to go along with Tobe and Robin (Gwen didn't like the fact the children were coming as well but knew they would follow with or with her permission) Dom, Neal and finally... Numair. I'm not even going to ask why he's coming, Gwen thought to herself as she knew that she'll never be able to understand. Later on she would just have to ask Alanna to give her the summaries details. It seemed like everyone was packed and ready to go, though there was just one more person she had to talk to first.

Even though they spent most of their nights together now, the king had given the two strange creature's separate rooms to live in and Gwen knew that if Luke wasn't either eating, training or making love to her then he would be in his room doing what only the Gods know werewolves do in their private time. Finally, she reached the door and knocked hard on it three times; taking the few seconds of peace she had to herself to quickly sort out how she was going to explain this to him without losing it. It didn't take long for the man to answer her call, answering the door with only his trousers on (as usual) so all visits could get a good look at his muscles; Gwen especially liked the six pack. Without a seconds warning, he grabbed her and pulled the archer into his room, their lips brush slowly against each other only to grow hungrier as their mouths tried to devour one another. Gwen couldn't understand why she always felt so weak and vulnerable around him yet strong and confident as her hands massaged the muscle on his back. Finally, the passion was too much for their lungs and they had to break away to stop their insides burning.

"A little bit early to be performing such activities but I'm all game for it." Luke mumbled as he moved his lips towards the neck. Gwen could feel his lips in the form of a smirk as he began kissing the flesh on her shoulders. It was only at that moment that she remembered what she was really there for and pushed the werewolf an arm's length from her.

"We need to talk." Her voice all serious again but the six foot love machine only rolled his eyes in an annoyed matter.

"Usually when you say that it ends up in us fighting." The werewolf warned with a mixture of emotions that Gwen wasn't sure if he was being serious or joking. Nevertheless, he listened to her as she explained the situation that was going on and what she planned to do. Word after word tumbled out of her mouth and at some points she could see that Luke was having a hard time keeping up with her, until she reached the Morgana part and then he was all ears. "You were going to go after Morgana and only recently decided to tell me!" His voice was only a whisper but you could see the anger trembling from his body as he tried to control himself.

"It's the only way to stop her Luke, I'm tired of waiting for her to jump out and get us, it's time that we put some players in the field." Gwen informed him but it didn't seem to calm him at all.

"I'm going with you." The werewolf barked out.

"No!" Gwen ordered firmly, almost like she was telling off a dog. Before Luke could get his mouth open to argued, she jumped in first, "I need someone here to watch out for the witch. You're the one with the best knowledge at the moment to defend this country against Morgana." Her lover looked at her with pained eyes. It was hard to miss the waves of frustration rolling off him but deep down she could sense that he knew she was right. The man began pacing around the room, trying to work off some of his negative energy before finally punching the wall and let out a mad wolfs howl. In seconds it was all over and he fell on to his bed with his head in his hand.

"I just found you again and yet I feel like I'm losing you." He cursed to himself and Gwen could feel heart twist painfully. Looking back up at her, it looked like he had aged a hundred years with the worried look in his face. Sitting herself down beside him, the archer took one of his hands in his and stroked them gently.

"I have to do this, we can't just live our lives in fear of what other plans she's got up her sleeve." She begged him to listen as she kissed him softly on the corner of his mouth. Gently, he placed a hand on her mouth and guided her towards his lips. The couple stayed like that before a few moments before letting go of each other again. Suddenly, Luke got up to his feet and marched to the corner of his room. Gwen could only watch in wonder as he began searching his draws before pulling out a small box. Making his way back over to her, he kneeled in front of, his eyes looking deeply in her.

"Gwen you know I love you more than anything and I want us to be together for the rest of our lives." He smiled sweetly at her and opened the box to reveal a small silver band. "Will you marry me?" He asked and at that moment Gwen went completely still. Was he crazy, they had only just got back together and he was asking her to marry her. This was crazy, this was completely inappropriate this was highly illogical. All these facts rambled through her head at a hundred miles per hour but there was one fact she couldn't deny; she loved him. Fuck logic! She smiled.

"Yes!" She cried and held out her hand to allow the small ring to slip on to her wedding finger. They knew they didn't have much time and they didn't know how long they would be apart but at least the decided to make the best of what time they had left together.

With everyone set and ready to go, the small group set off, wanting to at least find a good inn to the north before sunset, so they could rest for the night and discuss a plan of action for the country they were visiting first. Looking over her shoulder, Gwen could just make out the outline of the castle. She feared losing it from her sight. It was at that place where she had discovered to feel alive again. To be able to laugh, love and cry with friends to be able to support her. For once she felt at home and after all this was done, she was going to come back, get married and have kids. But right now she had some unfinished business to sort out first.


	17. Planning

Hours later into the journey, Gwen and her group of close friends found themselves arguing over the best way to get into Scanran undetected. They couldn't go in as merchants because the selling and trading season was over and the next one wouldn't be for another couple of months, they couldn't just say they were travellers because their group was just too big to go on unnoticed and they couldn't go in as themselves because it would just cause too much chaos. If they wanted to get pasted the borders they needed to sneak in but they questioned was how. As everyone debated in harsh whispers across the table, Gwen examined the maps in front of her. As she fiddled with the ring on her finger, the archer's eyes went along the outline of the country. Despite the number of times she tried to focus her eyes kept moving towards the mountains that surrounded most of the east and separated it from Gallan.

"What if we go through the mountains?" Gwen inquired, her low tone voice breaking through the arguments that surrounded her and making everyone go completely quiet.

"I don't believe it's the best possible route, the tracks are not mapped, the terrain is unmentionable and also the mountains belong to bandits." Numair pointed out, as he pointed at the map and began naming the heavily based areas that were rumoured to have large amounts of bandit camps there.

"Yes but no matter where we go we're either being attack by bandits or soldiers and don't get me started on some of the villagers." Dom was quick to point out, since he had first-hand experience travelling through the country, through the war and on other secret missions that he wasn't allowed to mention.

"Yes, not to mention that the landscape doesn't exactly have the smoothest travelling surface even in the best part!" Neal whined in his usual way and earned a slap around the shoulder from his cousin and best friend. "Why do you hurt we so when I only speak truth?" The knight moaned in a playful hurt manner and tried to look wounded.

"I'll give you something to complain about in a second if you don't stop whining!" Alanna hissed at her former squire which seemed to shut him up.

"Now let's calm down and focus on the task at hand." The wizards soft but firm voice commanded. With the anger soon forgotten they went straight back into debating the best travel route. They seemed to be getting nowhere until Jasson finally stepped in.

"I think it's the best idea since it doesn't matter how we get in we're still going to face danger." The prince's usually quiet voices was suddenly strong and confident, making everyone turn to look at him with a surprise look on their faces but were still sane enough to be able to listen to him. Realising he had suddenly placed himself in the spotlight, Jasson suddenly began more withdraw for a second before finally making a decision. "Scanran is a dangerous place but at least if we take the mountain passage we wouldn't have to worry about sneaking by check points and making up stories to complete strangers, plus if we do get questions or pulled over somehow we could say that were hired soldiers, which will explain our foreign appearance and large group." Everyone stared at the young prince for a second as the information sank in.

"I think we're all sorted then but I think there is one more problem we should consider first." Alanna approached in a knowing tone and at the moment most of the group turned to look at Neal, who just sat their inspecting them all.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The healer page asked.

Gwen had not been sure at first why Alanna had wanted to duct tape her ex-squires mouth. That was until the following day. I've never ever heard someone whine so much! The archer thought as she ripped pieces of cloth apart and fashioned them into ear plugs in an attempt to close out the drowning sound of the knight's voice. I will not kill a member of this team, I will not kill a member of this team… Gwen mumbled inside her head over and over again as she sent death glares into the side of Neal's head. Seriously! He's a knight; he is supposed to be trained to deal with these conditions! The archer cursed and complained in her own mind as the thoughts travelled through her head.

"How do you people live with it?" She asked both of the lady knights, who possibility knew the man best.

"You learn to ignore it to a certain extent." Kel answered before turning back to the quiet conversation with Dom.

"If worse comes to worse… I could always put a little charm on him." The black mage whispered from behind and a small echo of giggles rumbled through the group. Even though such an act was illegal in Tortall the idea was very tempting to consider at least. The small group kept to the shadows of old routes and forests to stay of site of any on coming travellers on their journey. Finally, after half a day's ride and search along the mountains, they came across what looked like an old mountain path that had almost been hidden by over grown plantation if Jasson had not discovered it.

"It looks like it hasn't been used in years." Dom observed, crouching down so he could inspect the lower part of the rocky surface.

"It doesn't but I found these." Jasson spoke as he held out his hand and showed the group the broken trigs that lay in his hand. "I found these on the floor near here, this path has been used lately and someone tried very hard to cover it up." Everyone around him allowed the information to sink into their skin as they processed the information.

"Bandits possibly?" Numair assumed as it was the most logical explanation.

"Like we're not going to bump into them anyway." Alanna cursed as she led Darkmoon up the path followed closely by everyone else. For a mountain pass the road was strangely smooth and wide, making it easy for all of them to ride on horseback.

Higher and higher they went, as the day went on Neal got too tired to complain anymore, along with everyone else. However, the horses were taking it far worse than anyone else. Gwen looked down at Misfit to see large beads of sweat rolling down the animal's neck, his steps clumsy and his breathe heavy from the hard day's labour; not to mention the dry climate and high atmosphere were too much to adjust to in one day. Looking at the other people she saw their horses facing similar conditions.

"I think that's enough for today! The horses are exhausted!" Gwen shouted out to her other comrades and all of the muttered agreements. Soon enough they came across the shelter of a small cave. The first task was to groom the horses and water them down so they felt a little better. After that was all done they fed them of food before getting themselves comfortable and ready in the little hole in the mountain. They had stocked up well before their journey to the north, since there were very little resources in this part of the country. The archer volunteered to be the first guard on watch as everyone rested; outside in the open the horses rested as well, her own stallion placed himself near the cave mouth so that they could share each other's company. The night came quickly and Gwen was amazed by how clear the stars were that she could clearly make out the patterns of constellations and the colours of other planets. The full moon was at its highest point and the archer could feel the full beams of the moonlight shining on to her skin. "Isn't it beautiful Misfit?" She whispered into her animal's ear and the horse nayed in agreement. Taking a sharp stone from the ground, she tested it to make sure it was good enough to sharpen her sword with. It was during this process that she noticed a strange glow that differed to the light of the sparks she made. Looking up, she saw something grow above her head. What the…? She thought in wonder, as she stood up and reached up to pull whatever it was done. A flower? Gwen was shocked to find but it wasn't like anything she had seen before in her life. The large petals were the deepest emerald green, with flecks of silver among the surface of the flower and stem but the long anther had a shining glow to it; the only normal thing about it was its long dirtied roots hanging effortlessly. The next few moments she couldn't explain. Flashes of other memories poured through her head that it almost hurt to try and focus on what they all were at once.

"I've never seen something like that before." Alanna's voice broke through the quietness of the night. Obviously up to take her turn watching.

"It's called Esmardas." Gwen mumbled under her breath but the words still reached the lady knights ears. Holding it into the light, the elf spun it around in her fingers to get a better look at it. "This was what I used to use when I dyed my fletching's."

"But you told us you couldn't remember how you made it into that colour." The lady knight spoke in shock as both their minds referred back to the night Luke had explain her actions towards the ending of the Scanran war. As they talked about the colour of the old fletching's, the researchers at the palace could not find a chemical combination that came close to the colour.

"I know." Was all Gwen said in reply and walking towards the edge of the cliff looked among the ground which laid hundreds of feet below her. Just like with the flowers flashes of old memories reached the surface of her mind, though she could not place them in a time line. "I've been here before as well but I don't understand how I know this." Gwen cursed in frustration as she massaged the temples of her forehead to calm the ache that pounded against her skull.

"Maybe whatever magic you casted on yourself is beginning to wear off?" Alanna suggested but Gwen highly doubted that.

"Get you bow out and ready and tomorrow we'll have to have them concealed beneath our cloaks… I fear we will be needed them tomorrow." Gwen commented before walking back to the cave mouth where her own sleeping bag lay still carrying the flower with her. Even though her body was tired her mind would not rest. To pass the time she crushed one of the flower petals into a little pot and added liquid to it so it soon became a green dye, dipping the white feathers of her arrows into it. After letting them dry she picked them out and examined them closely. Yep, defiantly uses the flower, Gwen smiled to herself, feeling as if she had found a long lost part of herself. Replacing the arrows back into her quiver, she finally was able to settle herself that night and fell into a deep sleep.


	18. The People who live in the Mountains

Just like Gwen had instructed, everyone was dressed in their shabby common clothing with their bows, notched with arrows, under their clocks. Gwen's eyes darted back and forth between the rocky cliffs, trying to see any danger that might harm her group. Something inside her stomach told her that none of this was right. It was like she had a massive boulder hanging in the bottom of her stomach and it was pulling her further and further down. Every sound placed her on high alert and she had to force herself to remain calm every time a tiny rock crumbled down the mountain side. She didn't mean to act like this but she couldn't stop the tension rolling off her skin like the waves from an earthquake. It was making the others feel extremely uncomfortable. I'm losing it, the archer told herself and tried to take deep calming breathes. As she focused on her breathing, her surroundings became clearer to her and the sound of whizzing air that was different from the normal movement of air. Her green eyes snapped open and her bow was up and aimed, only a spilt second later she realised and managed to take out another arrow mid-flight that had almost hit Jasson. Everyone sprang into action, shields up blocking more on coming arrows from the cliffs.

Already they were at a disadvantage being on lower ground. Un-hooking her boots from her straps, Gwen climbed onto her saddle. In a flash, she was standing up in her seat and fired again. This time she aimed where the arrows were coming from, hitting a dark figure hiding behind the rocks. Ducking back down, she just avoided another arrows that whizzed pass her head, striking the back wall instead.

"Ow!" Dom suddenly cried out, one of the arrows had pierced through shield and hit him in the arm. Nevertheless, he held his post and kept up the shield war. The prince shot an arrow from his bow, just missing one of the figures that had ducked back down. Noting three arrows into her bow, Gwen stood up and realised again, the only way she knew the arrows had hit their mark was from the colour of her fletching's standing out clearly against the dull colours of the enemy. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Robin and Tobe getting their bows armed and ready to shot.

"Oh no you don't!" Gwen ordered the two young children and pushed them back low into their saddles. At the same time, she had another arrow strapped and aimed, this time missing the target by a small inch. The sound of someone muttering caught her attention and she turned to see the black robe mage whispering words she didn't understand. Suddenly. Crack! The sound of thunder caught her attention and all of a sudden the mountains had boulders rolling down its sides. The oncoming bombardment stopped as the men on the other side were too busy running to avoid the on slaughter.

"Let's move!" Kel shouted and without a seconds thought everyone began galloping with all the speed their horses could muster. The worse part of it was that they couldn't run for long. They rode straight into a dead end.

"A land slide!" Alanna called out in a panic. Trying to stay calm, Gwen tried to think through what to do and get all these people out of here but couldn't help but be distracted by the ugly banner with orange feathers on it that Kel was tying around her head.

"It's just illusion!" Kel shouted out, forcing Peachblossom forward. Just as the archer was about to shout at her to stop (otherwise she'll be riding head first into a wall of rocks) the knight was swallowed whole. Tobe was next to follow, pulling on Robin's reins to follow him through, then Dom, then Numair. Before Alanna and Gwen could follow through they turned to find the angry cries of armed men on horseback closing up their rear.

"Age before beauty, sweetheart." The red head shouted at her before dashing through the rocks. So not fair! Gwen thought childishly, until she remembered, there were people following her on horseback with sharp point arrows and possible other killing objects. Urging Misfit forward, she sped off after Alanna and through the illusion. We made it! Gwen was glad to see everyone riding far ahead. But she was foolish to think they had gotten away so easily because even though they hadn't crossed the rocks themselves yet the one of the enemy shot and arrow and hit her horse's thigh. From shock, Misfit lung back into the air, throwing Gwen off and over the side of the cliff.

When someone said your life flashes before your eyes when you're facing death, they're not lying. Everyone that Gwen could think off flashed through her mind faster than the speed of light. Luke, Alanna and even stupid George appeared in her head as she saw every happy moment that she had ever been apart from. Finally, her instincts woke up and she lashed out at the first thing she could grab. The sound of the effort it took echoed across the empty wide space of the mountains. Her one hand gripped onto the rock with all her strength. But she could hold on with all her might but that didn't change the fact the rock was loose and her weight just caused it to become loose. Thankfully, she had friends in high places. In this situation that meant Alanna leaning over the cliff side and grabbing Gwen's wrist.

"I thought you would be half way back home with Georgie poo by now." Gwen laughed through gritted teeth as she tried to make a joke of the situation. The lady knight seemed un-amused by this.

"If you make another bad joke I swear I will drop you." Alanna hissed as beads of sweats dripped down the side of her face. You're going to pay for that later! Gwen thought to herself, even if the woman was saving her life.

"Halt! In the name of King Frey!" A loud booming voice echoed above them and looking passed her friends face saw five tall, slender men with unusual pale skin tone and green armour. All armed with arrows pointed at Alanna's back.

"Well it wasn't like we could move in the first place." Gwen snapped at one of the man who had bellowed at them. He was possibly the largest out of all of them and when he removed the helmet covering his face revealed dazzling emerald eyes and shocking cinnamon colour hair that was actually the same as hers. I have a bad feeling about this? She wondered to herself as they locked eyes. There was a spark of recognition in the green orbs of the man that stood above her.

"Gwen!" The young man shouted out so loudly that for a second the elf was worried that their might be a second earthquake.

"I see you know my name, well done!" Gwen commented sarcastically at the man's sudden outburst to knowing who she was. "Now who the hell are you?"

If the two women were expecting to be taken prisoner into a small village with little huts, poor village people and a few picket fences to escape from then they were totally wrong. With their hands tied behind their backs, they were led into a city carved into the mountains. Woah! Was the only thing Gwen could think of and from the expression she could see on Alanna's face from the corner of her eye, knew that her friend was getting a similar idea? As they were led up the carved mountains steps, everyone they passed stared at them. All of these people looked human but at the same time didn't. They had the same body mechanics as any other person the archer had seen, two legs and two arms (thankfully no spider legs) but the features like skin, eyes and hair seemed completely out of the ordinary with the different shades of blondes, reds, brown, blues and greens. It was like these people had walked straight through a rainbow. Not to mention the features were much sharper and angular, like they had been perfectly sculptured to perfection; apart from the pointy ears.

"Have you ever heard of these people before?" Gwen learnt towards her friend and whispered. Inside, she felt like she knew the right answer to her question but the answered stay somewhere hidden at the back of her mind; like a five year old refusing to come out of its bedroom.

"Well I assume they're elves." Alanna answered in a low tone that the archer almost convinced herself that the older woman hadn't said anything at all.

"What makes you say that?" Gwen hissed back at her, squeezing past the guards that had closed in the area because they were walking straight through what seemed like a market place.

"How else would explain how they knew you?" The lady knight suggested but to be honest it wasn't enough to convince the elf herself about it. "Not to mention what other species has unusual hair not to mention I always thought you had pointy ears." The red heads voice had a smug tone to it. I do not have pointy ears! Gwen wanted to shout at the woman at the top of her voice and almost put a hand on her ear to feel it.

"At least I'm not short." Gwen cursed under her breath in retaliation, only to regret it seconds later when the hot head kick her hard in the leg. Okay… maybe the short comment was taking it a little too far, she told herself.

After a while of traveling a few metres up, the archer was worried that they would have to climb to the very top of the mountain, until they came across an invention called an elevator which zoomed the past endless stairs they would have had to climb up. In fact they climbed so far that their heads went passed clouds. Gwen didn't understand way they weren't having difficulty breathing since climbing this high meant they would literally have difficulty breathing in any oxygen. Possibly a spell or charm that was protecting them? The machine came to a sudden jerk. Being unprepared for this, Gwen nearly went stumbling over the side if one of the guards hadn't grabbed her arm.

"Watch it!" The man said in an over-protective voice. It was the guy that had recognised who she was. Ripping her arm from his grip, Gwen sent him an evil glare before allowing herself to be escorted into the massive palace. The palace looked like it was made with some kind of dark crystal and would have looked beautiful if it had not been constructed to look over-looming and dangerous. Unlike the people in the market place, everyone on this level wore fine attire and that looked very comfortable in the elf's opinion. As she was led through the glass building she could see that everyone here acted differently to those on the lower level. She didn't know if they were being polite or knew better then to look because everyone they walked passed kept their heads down. The further they travelled through the place the tighter the knot in her stomach got. I have a bad feeling about this, Gwen wondered to herself as she looked over her shoulder to Alanna who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Finally, they came to larger entrance that opened to what looked like the palace throne room. It seemed like a celebration was going on because around the edges of the room were nobles dressed in their best finery, clapping and cheering at the entertainers that were juggling and dancing in the centre. The party was soon disrupted though when the guards led the two outsiders through the room. Both Alanna and Gwen both shot each other nervous looks when they came into the view of a man and a woman sitting on the two thrones. They were the most beautiful people that Gwen had ever seen with pearl white skins, wide eyes and angular shape features.

"Eric! What is the meaning of this disruption?" The man boomed, his red hair surrounded by a golden crown, his clear grass coloured eyes nearly popping out of his head with anger. A long slender hand placed itself on his arm and giving him gentle pats. Unlike her husband the queen was much calmer about the situation; her long raven hair caressed her shoulders perfectly.

"Husband please, let our son explain himself." The woman's musical voice calmed the tension in the room easily.

"Father, I found someone interesting travelling the mountains." The captain standing in front of them said and stepped out of the way to reveal Gwen. At once the king was on his feet again, his eyes building in disbelief.

"Guinevere!" The man whispered unable to speak any louder because of his disbelief holding him back. There's a reason I make people call me Gwen, the archer swore to herself.

"Guinevere!" Alanna could barely stop the small giggles escaping her throat.

"I swear if you tell anyone I'll bury you in a place where no human or god can find you!" The archer hissed back at the red haired knight but this only seemed to make her friend only laugh more. This is so not the time for this, she thought to herself. Turning back, she could still see the king looking at her, completely ignoring the fact that the lady knight standing next to her was acting completely out of order. "The names Gwen buddy! What right do you have to call me that?" The elf hissed back at him, knocking the shock out of the man completely and a stern formal look replaced his posture.

"I'm your father that's why?" The man spoke strongly back that for a second the archer felt she had been knocked to her feet. This is not good! Gwen thought, staring at Alanna who seemed only slightly shocked but not as shocked as she was, maybe the woman already sensed something like this was about to happen.

"Father please do not blame her arrogance, it seems like she cannot remember anything." Eric spoke up in her defence in her defence. Wait that means I have a brother too! Was the only thing Gwen could think of next. Just how did this happen?


	19. Dual

Everything around Gwen seemed to fall down and crash in just a few seconds. Moments after the court nobles found out that she had no memory and that Alanna was a human they had tossed the two friends into two separate prison cells. Well that's a nice way to welcome back a long lost daughter? I thought to myself as I angrily hit the bars of the cell, only to get a small electric shock that burned her wrist slightly. Ow! I wanted to shout out but bit my lip really hard just in time to muffle the cry.

"Wow! Even high up in the mountains people have dark gloomy cages." Alanna joked and Gwen cursed herself for missing the opportunity to make that joke. I would have made a better one, she childishly thought to herself. But right now wasn't the time to curse how she had missed out on the perfect opportunity; the elf had to think of a way of getting both of them out of this place alive. Feeling un-easy about this, the archer circled around the room to burn off some of her access energy. Meanwhile, Alanna was sitting on her mat with her legs crossed in a strange procession on her mat with her hands resting on her knees and eyes closed. Gwen couldn't help but find this kind of strange since her friend was just as impatient as she was and would have found it hard to just sit down and do nothing.

"We've got to do something." Gwen cursed under her breath as she continued to pace the floor.

"I'm working on it." The lady knight spoke softly. Finally noticing the pacing wasn't really helping, Gwen watched her friend through the bars.

"What exactly are you-" Alanna shushed her before the archer had a chance to finish off her sentence. Letting out a loud huff, Gwen crossed her arms against her chest and made herself wait. For a while nothing happened and the lioness continued to sit there and do nothing. Then her lips began to move, whispering words that the elf didn't understand. Suddenly purple flames appeared around the locks of the doors and a same explosion forced the door open.

"Did I ever tell you I love it when you do magic?" Gwen squealed in delight as she sprang to her feet and ran outside the cell to meet her friend. The red head smiled in delight back at her. But their small moment was ruined when they heard the clattering sound of boots against the tiled floors. They both ran.

Alanna was not only gifted with a sword but she could deliver a head smashing high kick as well. This was demonstrated when a palace guard came running at the lady knight and she struck in hard in the chin in response. Dodging down to avoid on of the swinging swords at her head, Gwen rolled passed them and stuck her elbow in that nerve point at the back of his neck which gave him a dead leg. We didn't stop for anything as we ran down the halls, dodging and fighting soldiers wherever they went. As a last minute thought, Gwen grabbed Alanna by the collar of her shirt and pulled her into a room nearby. Slamming the large oak door behind me, I throw a chair under the handle to keep the door locked. Breathing heavily, the two women waited for the sound of stampeding boots to run by before letting out a deep breath. They were safe; for now at least.

"We've got to think of a way to get out of here." Alanna worried as she began searching the room for something to help them only to bump into a shirtless young man with only a towel wrapped around his waist. It just happened to be Eric, my so called brother. He jumped back as soon as he noticed who the lady knight was.

"What are you two doing here? How did you escape?" The young soldier demanded to know but now of us answer. In fact, Alanna did something quite scandalous and ripped the towel away from his waist, leaving him as bare as the day he was born. Instinctively, he placed his hands in front of his manhood, instead of racing for one of the weapons on the wall which Alanna happened to spot and dragged down the scariest looking board sword she could reach, holding the sharpest end to his throat. The sensible thing to do would have been to disarm the weapon from her and use it, which would have been easy for him if he was more interested in protecting his manhood than anything else.

"I wonder what woman has the pleasure of having your bed at night." Gwen joked, her laughing echoing across the room, making Eric give her a dirty look across the room.

"I was just thinking the same thing, a gift like that doesn't come around that often." Alanna violet eyes sparkled mischievously and the man's pale skin turned to a burning red. But her expression soon turned serious again and she pressed the blade closer to Gwen's brother's throat. "Now tell us how we can get the hell out of here?" The knight demanded to know from him and the elf face soon returned back to a shocking white.

"You expect me to tell you how to climb down a mountain passed hundreds of guards alive; it's impossible!" Eric stuttered out as quickly as possible, however, the knight did not take this too kindly and pressed the edge of the blade closer to his throat. His eyes widen but still he held himself still. "Well, the only thing I can think of is you changeling the kings champion to a trial of combat but only another champion has the authority to demand that." The prince answered and the grin on Alanna's face grew wider.

"Well, it just happens I'm a champion too, now take me to your father willingly or I take you there as you are now." The woman demanded and by the sound of her voice, no one had the right to deny it.

It seemed gossip spread just as fast among the species of the elves just as well as the humans as many people were gathering around in the court room to see the event. Gwen stood off to the side near Eric, watching her best friend stand in the centre, with her sword 'Lightning' once again hanging loyally by her side. For such a small woman, there was something about the Lioness that demanded respect and fear. For a second, Gwen and Alanna's eyes locked and the purple eyed woman sent her friend a wink. The archer smiled back at her for encouragement but deep down the elf had never felt so afraid for a human being in her whole life; well… from what she can remember of cause. The king and queen were their too, as it was their job to make the deals and watch over the fight.

"What is it you demand?" The king asked his voice firm and stern. Looking all business, the champion of Tortall gave her conditions.

"You allow us to leave peacefully and you help get Gwen's memory back!" The last term the woman laid out was one that the archer had not been expecting. Her friend had not mentioned anything to her; she thought the plan was just to get the hell out of this place. A part of her was angry and wanted to demand from her friend what the hell she was thinking off. But the other half was today worried for her friend's safety to say anything that might ruin their chance and for once in her life, kept her mouth shut. The king didn't even think over the terms and conditions as he agreed to them a heartbeat later and called forth his champion.

The guy was literally massive. The man was built like an ox with his board shoulders, thick legs and enormous height; he wouldn't be able to fit into a small closet. For some reason he remained Gwen of a giant mountain bear she had hunted once, with his large body mass, dark brown hair covered his hair and his beady black eyes were wide and alert. If it had been herself, the elf would have feared the battle but Alanna looked on with a glint of excitement in her eyes. It was a known fact that the lady knight hated killing, especially with in these types of circumstances but possibly the woman was looking forward to a bit of a challenged. The big guy swung his double edge axe in his hands, not actually champion material but it was his choice.

"Begin!" The king shouted and the atmosphere in the room changed. Alanna was no longer relaxed as she had been a few moments ago. Holding her sword in front of her in a defensive position, her eyes focused on her opponent and on her toes; ready to move when she needed to. The Giant elf moved first, lifting his axe high above his head and slamming it back down. It would have hit the woman's head if she had not jumped back and slammed the weapon aside with her own weapon. It looked like mostly a game of cat and mouse, with the giant launching at her at every second, while Alanna just dived or rolled out of the way. Never once did she hit back. What are you planning Alanna? Gwen thought to herself as she calculated the movements of the dual through her head. It didn't take long to work out the obvious. Obviously, using strength against strength in this battle would not work in the lady knights favour because even though the small woman was quite well built and strong, there was no way she could take on a well-built machine all by herself. But what she did have on her side was speed and a hell of a lot of stamina for a forty year old woman. It didn't take long for the ox man to become tired as he swung the heavy axe again and again. All you had to do was wait for the perfect opening. Crack! It all happen so fast that most people weren't aware that it had happened until the man stumbled backwards. The lady knight had sped in and slammed the hilt of her sword into her opponents' nose. Blood went everywhere. Alanna took no mercy as she dashed in and slashed her sword against the man's mid-drift to cut the man's stomach muscles open. Gwen smiled to herself, she knew that the lady knight was trained enough to make the wound deep enough to badly injured him that he couldn't get back up but not deep enough served his internal organs. As long as he got treatment he would live. While a few doctors and shoulders carried the elf champion of the stage, the king stood back up and, holding up his arms to hush the crowd.

"Winner, Lady Alanna of Pirate Swoop." He announced and surprisingly a few of the people cheered. However, the king didn't look so happy.


	20. Morgana's Plan

The memory retrieval ceremony was strange, even for magic standards. For one thing, the ceremony had to performed when at the moon was at its highest peak in the sky, second, Gwen and other people who were participating in the ceremony had to have weird black symbols painted on their skin and finally, the archer had to stand in the centre of a dark room filled with other clocked figures. Icy waves of nervousness sealed their ways into her skin as she tried to patiently wait for the ritual to begin. It was hard not to shiver since she only wore a black rag dress that didn't even bother to cover her arms or legs. Earlier, Alanna had been allowed to send out a message to Numair to say that they were okay and were to meet them at the bottom of the cliff at midnight with their horses, supplies and other friends waiting for them. That is if she ever made it through this goddamn spell alive. Suddenly, bells echoed loudly in the distance, it was time for the ceremony to begin.

Mumbles vibrated around the room as the mages began to mumble their chants. Gwen forced herself to remain still in the middle of the room while the performed their ritual but it still made her feel weird. All of a sudden, the room started to become filled with light. Looking up, she could see the circular hole in the ceiling was in the exact same position that the moon was moving to, making its way to the highest point in the sky. Now it was becoming an effort to control her breathing, as she felt worse and worse. Stupid magic! The elf cursed in her head and bit the inside of her cheek to help her focus on something else even if it was for a couple of seconds. The chanting became faster and quicker and despite having the urge to run for the mountain (or even higher ones at this rate) her feet were frozen to the ground. Faster and faster they muttered, until the soundless encrypted words that she didn't understand even before blurred together that they would be unrecognised by any other species. One of the mages stepped forward, pushing back the hood, the elf could just make out the person was female. Though just barely, since it was hard to make it through the weird paint and shaved head. Stepping into the centre just next to Gwen, the woman raised her arms up to the sky and began to sway slightly.

"Moon Goddess! Help us restore this woman's memory, use you magical energy to blast her with the truth." As soon as the woman shouted the word 'blast' she had a bad feeling, since the cinnamon haired woman thought it was a weird thing to say especially in a spell. The next thought that made Gwen think that something really bad was about to happen was when the head witch took a couple of steps back. Okay feet this is when you start running! Gwen tried to mentally tell herself but still they refused to follow her lead. It all became an apparent, when she heard a loud boom above her head and looked up to see a flash of lightning head her right in the middle of the forehead.

Opening her eyes, Gwen had no doubt that the spell didn't work because she remembered everything. Morgana! Gwen hissed before jumping to her feet, almost knocking the mages around her on to the ground. Marching through the halls of the palace, she walked straight into the room were Alanna was supposed to be waiting for her in and stormed into the bathroom. Jumping into a steaming hot bath she prepared for herself, she scrubbed the ink away until her skin was rubbed raw. Placing her clothes back on, tying her hair into a ponytail and securing her weapons to herself, she had only one thought. What was the most painful technique she knew that she could punish that evil witch with?

Prince Eric was determined to be the one to escort them back down the mountain, though no one said anything the whole way down. Both the woman's faces brighten up when they saw their friends waiting for them at the bottom. They ran full force towards their companions and with their combined force we able to knock them all off their feet. Their horses were happy to meet them as well. Especially Misfit, who somehow found his mistress through all rumble of people without treading on them and used his long rough tongue to give her a massive kiss. Finally they were able to peel themselves away from each other. Looking up, Gwen saw her brother still standing were she left him. They shared eye contact for a second before looking away. Thinking to herself for a few moments, she walked over to him and gave him a hug.

"We'll meet again." She whispered into his ear before letting him go and made her way back to her group. From the looks of it, Alanna was explaining to the whole group what was happening. Setting themselves on to their horses everyone prepared to go but Gwen had one final message to give herself. "Tell the king, to assemble his army and to be ready for the call." She warned him.

"Why would father do that? I don't think you notice but he doesn't like you that much!" He informed her and with her recent memories, she already knew why.

"Because we share a common enemy." Gwen told him and she could feel everyone's eyes on her, watching and listening intently to what was happening. Still her brother remained unconvinced so Gwen was left to spill the beans out for him. "Morgana." The very hatred was notice by everyone that surrounded them. The blood from her brother's face suddenly disappeared.

"You remember everything?" Numair asked in surprise. Obviously, he hadn't been informed about her recovery yet. Turning towards her friends she saw that everyone else was a little shocked.

"Even Morgana's plans." She answered and rode into the centre of the group. "It's worse than I thought, we'll need everyone's help, humans, werewolves, elves, dwarfs, everyone. Morgana's army threatens to destroy the whole of reality and we can't let that happen."

"But what is the plan?" Kel questioned, suddenly tighten her grip around Tobis and Dom. Smiling at her friend, she gripped the woman's shoulder and squeezed it for reassurance.

"That's to be explained for the advantage to come."

**TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
